


Vernal Equinox

by StarCommCowgirl



Category: Santa Clause (Movies)
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-19 07:10:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 63,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13118676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarCommCowgirl/pseuds/StarCommCowgirl
Summary: Christmas is business as usual but when a new enemy shows up and a member of the Council of Legendary Figures goes missing, time is of the essence to track her down and save X-mas. [Takes place between SC2 & SC3] [Completed story moving over from ff.net]





	1. Arrivals & Reunions

** Vernal Equinox **

* * *

  _It's Gonna be a Cold Winter_  
_But I Won't Need the Heat to Keep Me Warm_  
_As Long As You Wrap Yourself Around Me on Christmas Morn_  
_Whether It's Now or Later_  
_As Long As It's Before You Go_  
_My Love is Always in Your Favor_  
_And Now You Know That All I Want for Christmas is U_ s

All I Want For Christmas Is Us~ Tristan Prettyman & Jason Mraz

* * *

  

Curtis stared at his watch for the third time blinking his blue eyes repeatedly as if the action would make time move faster. The second hand had only made it half way around the dial since his last observation which caused him to sigh. "She should be here by now," He said to no one in particular. Pushing his glasses back up on his nose, Santa's number two elf returned to methodically pacing back and forth inside the Elfsburg stables. The stable elves seemed to pay him no mind and continued about their business, tending to seven reindeer and keeping everything tidy. Curtis grumbled to himself wishing his superior had been sent down on this errand instead of himself. It wasn't that he minded the task, but he had pressing inventions to attend to. On top of that there were the disaster in the kitchen that he didn't even want to begin thinking about. Curtis sighed again but stopped pacing and looked up to the sky. Above him the aura borealis swirled lazily streaking the air with shades of pale blue, pink and green. He finally smiled as he spied what he had been waiting for.

Through the secret entrance to Santa's workshop flew the big man's eighth and final official reindeer, Vixen. The number two elf was more interested in the reindeer's passenger, the reason he had been sent to the stables in the first place. Suddenly, his distain for the task given to him all but disappeared. It was the beginning of November that meant it was time for Fiona to arrive.

Though many fantastical creatures frequented the North Pole, Fiona was among the more interesting. That wasn't to say that she was as all knowing as Father Time or as all powerful as Mother Nature, but she was still very different. Fiona was a sprite and the physical embodiment of the spring season. This fact alone made her truly out of place in the wintry wonderland of Santa's workshop. Several hundred years ago, however, it had been decided by the Council of Legendary Figures, that instead of remaining down south during the winter months when her magic was weak, Fiona would travel up to the temperature controlled North Pole. It had become her job to oversee the production of special flora for the holiday season.

Vixen landed in the stables a short time later. The stable elves quickly began attending to the reindeer and un-harnessing her from the small sleigh she had been escorting.  As they did, the sleigh's passenger looked around the stable. The tall girl smiled when her turquoise eyes landed on the elf waiting specifically for her. Curtis offered a hand as Fiona hopped down from the sleigh and onto the hard ground. She shivered despite the thick soled boots that protected her from the cold. Taking back her hand and brushing off her skirt of snow and reindeer hair, Fiona turned to Curtis and grinned even more. "Happy late Halloween," she beamed throwing her arms around the elf. Curtis hugged her back, smiling as well. "I brought you a present!"

Curtis marveled as how happy the sprite seemed today. Most of the time when Fiona made the trek up to the North Pole, she would disembarked from her transport and begrudgingly make her way through the factory and out of sight for several days. In recent years though, she had seemed more chipper upon arrival. Curtis could tell, this time, from the heavy amount of black and orange intermingled in her usually green attire where she had been previous to her arrival that had put her in such a good mood. "How was Halloween Town this year, Fi?"

"It was fabulous as always," Fiona gushed, pulling her bags down from Vixen's back. The reindeer grumbled slightly but made a cooing noise as soon as the bags were lifted and Fiona had given her the requisite head scratches. "Jack seems to out due himself every year." Curtis had never met, Jack Skellington, the king of Halloween Town, but he had heard stories, mostly from Fiona. He could only imagine the terrifying yet mystical spectacle that was Halloween Town around its holiday. "They seriously know how to throw a party around there. I had to rush, though, so I didn't get time to change. I'm freezing!" she laughed indicating the costume she still wore. Her long scarlet hair was pulled into two braided ponytails bedecked with orange and black ribbons and glitter. Her costume consisted of a black sleeveless bodice and a fairly short evergreen skirt. The colors made her white skin look even paler. Purple tights provided very little comfort for her legs though her feet rested comfortably in black leather boots. Fiona shivered again as she pulled a black trench coat from her duffle bag. She pulled it close and suddenly felt much more comfortable.

"Oh right, the present!" She said, digging through her bag and handing a small orange and black bag, brimming with brightly colored oddities to Curtis.

"Thanks Fi," the elf said, staring with wonder into the bag. Though curiosity made him want to venture a look inside, Curtis knew there was business to attend to. "I'm supposed to take you see Santa right away. He wants to talk to you about this year's plans. Also, there's going to be a big Council of Legendary Figures meeting soon. You can leave your bags here and someone will take them to your room"

Fiona audibly groaned at the mention of the CoLF. Her happy mood was only slightly dampened by the prospect. She pulled her duffle bag over her shoulder, left the rest of her bags where Curtis had indicated and said, "Lead the way."

*~*~*~*

Scott Calvin sighed for what he thought was the fifth time in the past twenty minutes. The man known as Santa Claus tried to ignore as his skull pounded rhythmically to a tune he couldn't quite decipher. On the opposite side of his desk sat two full grown mythical creatures bantering like children. They had finally resorted to simply glaring at one another and waiting for Santa to resolve their conflict.

On the left side of the invisible fighting ring, was the fabled Jack Frost. The light skinned sprite in the blue and white pinstripes sent an almost tangibly frigid stare in the direction of Santa's Head Elf. Bernard, the green and red clad elf in question, was doing a fairly good job of combating the icy glare with his own heated anger.

Santa sighed and turned to Bernard. "So, let me get this straight, once again: You want him out of the factory because he keeps meddling?"

Bernard nodded, dark brown curls bobbing wildly. "Santa, he already ruined two days worth of work. You saw the damage in the kitchen and the wrapping room. How are we supposed to wrap presents with that soggy paper? It'll take at least a week to get new materials!"

Santa raised a hand which quickly silenced the elf. He then turned to Jack. "And you, you think you have every right to be here, swear you've done nothing but ask questions and try to help, and you need to be here for the Council meeting."

"It's my duty as a member of the Council," Jack said. "I have to be here for the meeting, do I not?"

"Like you've ever care about your council duties," Bernard scoffed.

Jack raised an ice covered white eyebrow. "I believe he was talking to me, Bernie. And what do you know of my Council concerns?"

"I know you haven't attended a Council of Legendary Figures Meeting in over 10 years. I didn't figure they were too high on your priority list. I think you're using it as an excuse to stick around and ruin Christmas, like you do every time you're here." The human sized elf stood from his chair growing more frustrated. He turned to Santa, placing his hands on the desk for emphasis. "Really, Santa, I don't know how you don't see this. There's less than two months 'til Christmas and there's still too much that needs to be done. We don't have time to deal with _him_ on top of it!"

A knock at the door caused all three men to jump. They looked between each other sheepishly, attempting to regain their composure. Bernard sat back down as the door opened revealing Santa's number two elf. Scott sighed again, though he was thankful for the interruption.

"Um, Santa, I'm sorry to interrupt," Curtis said, as he entered the room and noticed the meeting taking place, "But Fiona just arrived and you told me to bring her here ASAP."

Scott actually smiled for the first time since Bernard and Jack had burst into his office squabbling. "Oh course. Bring her in. We're almost finished here." As Curtis ran to get the Spring Sprite, Santa turned with all seriousness back to Bernard and Jack. They both straightened up in their chairs under the weight of his gaze. "So here's how we settle this: Jack, you may stay around the Pole until the Council meeting, but you are to be scarce, got it? If I hear one word of mischief, machines freezing, elves slipping on ice, anymore cocoa machine explosions, anything… you're done. I'll throw you out so fast your icicles will thaw."

Jack's cerulean glare turned from Bernard to Santa for a moment before turning into a cheesy smile. "You have my word Santa. I'll be on my best behavior. Heck, I'll even help out if you need me to."

"That definitely won't be necessary," Bernard grumbled.

"Bernard," the elf snapped to attention as his boss addressed him. "Stay away from Jack. Actually, both of you, stay out of the other one's line of sight. It'll just be safer for everyone that way."

"Yes, Santa."

With that acknowledgment, the door opened again, this time revealing Curtis and Fiona. "Fi," Santa grinned, cheeks rosier than normal. The girl smiled and sprinted from the doorway over to the large white-haired man. He grabbed her in an encompassing bear hug. When the two parted, Santa pointedly cleared his throat at the other three, getting back to business. "Jack, you're dismissed. Curtis, do me a favor and show him out. Then go check on the kitchen. See if they've finished cleaning up yet."

"I don't even get a chance to say hello to my dear Fiona before I leave?" Jack asked, walking up to the sprite. He took her hand in his and lightly kissed the top of it, grinning as he pulled away.

Fiona rolled her eyes but smiled none the less. "Hi, Jack."

"Looking lovely as always. I love the dress." He rose an eyebrow noticing the slightly risqué costume Fiona donned. She pulled her coat closer trying to hide herself and the blush that slowly crept across her cheeks.

"All right, you've said your hello, now get out of here." Jack shot one final stinging glare at the head elf who had addressed him, flashed another smile at Fiona and followed Curtis out of Santa's office.

Fiona laughed as she took the seat next to Bernard that Jack had earlier occupied. It still held a slight chill. "Are you two at each other’s throats again?" she asked Bernard as Santa sat back in his own chair.

Santa sighed, giving Fiona the answer she needed. "It's not my fault he's a troublemaker!" Bernard erupted in his own defense.

"That may be, but it's no reason to be rude, Bernard. I don't even get a 'Hi' or a 'How's it going Fi?'" Fiona crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him pointedly. Bernard opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.

"Any who, back to why I called you here, Fi," Scott said, interrupting the lack of conversation and attempting to save Bernard from an awkward silence. "We need to discuss this year's plans."

"I'm all ears, Scott," Fiona said, taking her focus off the floundering head elf. "Wait, unless you're trying to tell me you're replacing yourself with a toy clone again this year. In that case, I'm out."

Scott laughed, but he knew despite her jovial tone, Fiona, like anyone else present, couldn't take the mistakes of the disaster that had been 'toy Santa' too lightly just yet. He noticed Bernard cringe at the mere mention of the creature that had terrorized the factory that Christmas. "Nothing like that, I promise, Fi. But because of it, I did have the elves upgrade the green house for you. Got a lot of those improvements you were asking for. Bernard did most of the work so you have him to blame if it's not to your liking." Bernard's eyes went wide for a moment shifting between Fiona and Scott. Fiona bit her lip to keep from laughing as Scott continued, "But think of it as a thank you, for all your help with that fiasco and getting Carol adjusted." Fiona nodded in approval. "On another note, you're first delivery is due in a week."

"A bit early this year, isn't it?"

"Christmas just seems to be coming earlier and earlier these days. Pretty soon we'll be in the busy season by August." The entire room seemed to shudder at the idea of such early stress.

"Well that's about it, I think." Scott stood from his chair as did Fiona and Bernard. "Oh, you know about the emergency council meeting coming up, right?"

"I heard such things," Fiona said, rolling her eyes and pulling at her pigtails. "I mean, I'm surprised I'm invited. When is it exactly?"

"Apparently Mother Nature's trying to control a situation down south and doesn't think she can make it until next week at the earliest. I'm not really sure. It's all been odd and hush-hush," Scott said, running a hand through his snow-white hair. "Anyway, nothing to worry about just yet, I'm sure. Fi, as always if there's anything you need let us know. Bernard, if you'd be so kind, please take Fiona to see the new greenhouse and then help her get her things to her room."

"Yes, sir." Bernard gave a curt nod and turned for the door, followed by Fiona and they left the office.

"Oh and Scott," Scott looked up from the papers he had begun examining to see Fiona's head stick out of the doorway. "Jack, the Skellington Jack that is, wanted me to say "hi." And Happy Halloween." Santa Claus chuckled and waved the girl away. No matter how much trouble the council and Jack Frost were going to be, at least Fiona would help keep things lighter.


	2. Green Houses & Clean Ups

* * *

  _I Know He Knocks You Off Your Feet_  
_You're so Bitter; You Think He's Sweet_  
_Well He's Wrong for You, I Swear_  
_Did You Forget to Read the Script?_  
_There was Never Any Role for Him_  
_It Was Always You and Me, Just Me_

 _Just Because He Loves You Too_  
_He Would Never Take a Bullet for You_  
_Don't Believe a Word He Says_  
_He Would Never Cut His Heart Out For You_

Popular Mechanics For Lovers- Beulah

* * *

Leaving Santa's office, Bernard and Fiona made their way through the busy candy-striped halls of the Elfsburg toy factory. Bernard barked orders at a few choice elves he caught lollygagging and Fiona waved to those she personally recognized. They quickly exited the building and cut across town square.

"So, are we just not speaking to each other this year?" Fiona finally asked, growing irritated with the silence. Since she hadn't heard the actual cause of the squabble in Santa's office, she worried about her friend's uncharacteristically angry behavior. Though she was used to him being stressed, overworked, and slightly peeved; especially this time of year but he was hardly ever upset to the point of silence. After hundreds of years of knowing each other, Fiona and Bernard could usually tell when the other was out of sorts.

Bernard stopped in his tracks and looked at her for a moment as if he had only just realized she was there. "I… sorry, Fi," He said guiltily. "You know how it is with the holidays and then there's this Jack stuff…"

Fiona placed her hands on her hips and looked at him sternly. She was a few inches shorter than him but still managed to look threatening. "Oh, stop it! You know he's just trying to get to you. I think you scared every elf we passed earlier and being upset with Jack is no excuse for ignoring me." The fae told him, a hint of a smirk playing on her face. Bernard sighed in defeat and Fiona grabbed the elf in a hug. He relaxed only the slightest bit and finally hugged her back.

"I'm sorry," Bernard repeated, holding her at arms length. His eyebrows rose slightly as he looked over his friend. "Can I ask you something?" He said, continuing after she nodded. "What's going on with you? You're never in this good a mood this far into winter."

"I spent like two weeks in Halloween Town," Fiona replied. To emphasize her point she pulled aside her jacket revealing the costume underneath. Though Jack had noticed it instantly, Bernard had been too upset over their fight to pay it any mind. Fiona caught a tinge of crimson through the elfin glitter on his cheeks as his eyes quickly flicked back up to her face as if he had been caught. She tried to hide her smile at her successful teasing. "Besides, after watching everything that's happened since I showed up, someone around here has to be chipper. Now, let's go see my greenhouse." With new enthusiasm in her turquoise eyes, Fiona linked her arm in Bernard's and pulled him along continuing their trek.

*~*~*~*

"Here we go," Bernard announced, as he opened the door to the greenhouse and allowed Fiona in. The girl apprehensively stepped inside unsure of what to expect. The greenhouse, like most of the rest of Elfsburg, was an enchanted building. From the outside it looked to be about the size of a small backyard shed, but once inside the structure had the dimensions of half a football field. The back half consisted of fresh, barren soil for the trees of various shapes and sizes that would inhabit it. Several rows of planters were set up toward the front ready for all manners of flowers and small plants used for wreaths and holiday floral displays.

Fiona turned back to Bernard eyes wide with awe and appreciation. "Bernard, it looks amazing! Better than before."

The elf smiled sheepishly, happy she approved of the work. "It was nothing really. We had some extra time in February and some very gifted builder elves. I just oversaw the project. Oh, and look, we got those automatic systems you wanted." He turned to his left and opened a panel next to the door. Inside were several jewel-toned buttons. He pointed toward a blue button as he explained, "The computer in the back controls the majority of it, but, once you set it, this one turns on the watering system. You can make slight adjustments with these two purple ones. The red one controls the temperature in the dome and the green one sends a signal over to Judy who will bring cookies and cocoa to you or anyone else working. Curtis and Quintin wired the whole thing, so if anything's wrong it's their fault."

Fiona beamed unsure if she was happier about the automatic systems or at the prospect of the world's best hot chocolate only a button press away. "You've thought of everything!"

Bernard looked happy for the first time since Fiona had arrived. "Glad you like it. I've got security codes for the front door and the main systems for you too. Oh, and there's one more thing," He said, pulling the sprite toward the center of the house. "Look up."

Fiona did as she was told and her eyebrow instantly furrowed in confusion. "So, I've been on board up until now, B, but we can't have an open-air greenhouse." She was right; the roof of the greenhouse looked incomplete. Instead of the glare from the normal glass, there was only a clear, lovely view of the polar noonday sun. "It kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?"

The elf looked at her pointedly. "I hope you don't think me that naïve." He grabbed her arm again and led her over to the side of the room. Fiona realized she hadn't noticed the same effect on walls earlier. She apprehensively reached out her hand until it hit what seemed like non-existent glass. Her face told Bernard he had succeeded in completely confusing her. "Magical glass," he said, flicking at it. "It's completely transparent from this side, letting better light in than the normal stuff. On the outside, it's 'tinted', for lack of a better word, so people can't see in. We ran a few tests on it before you got here and all the plants we tried to grow thrived remarkably well."

"Had to be remarkable if you got something to grow," Fiona teased him, still staring at the magical barrier. Finally, she looked up at Bernard. "You really have outdone yourself." She said and grabbed him in a grateful hug. "I owe you big time!"

"I'm just glad you approve." Fiona nodded her head enthusiastically and Bernard chuckled. "Well, how about we finish getting you settled?" With that, Fiona grabbed her duffle bag and followed Bernard out of the greenhouse.

*~*~*~*

Having visited the North Pole all too frequently, Fiona had her own, somewhat permanent, residence on the far side of Elfsburg. The large, suite like structure had originally been put in place as a guest house for visiting Legendary Figures. When it had become apparent that Fiona's visits were going to be an annual occurrence, however, the Santa of the time had handed over the keys and set the elves to work on another guest house. The space was situated within a short walking distance of both the greenhouse and the actual toy factory. It was in the same district as many of the elves of higher distinction, like those that headed the factories many departments.

Fiona smiled when she walked in the front door. The place was small and cozy consisting of a sitting room and a bedroom in the back. Not surprisingly, the color scheme was primarily deep reds and greens with accents of gold and silver. It wasn't as if the place had changed in the year since she had been there, but that could have been why Fiona enjoyed it so much. She made her way across the front room and toward through the bedroom door. Before she closed it, she stuck her head out to address Bernard who was still standing awkwardly in the doorway. "I'm going to change out of this, but we need to talk!"

Fiona pushed the door closed enough to allow privacy but to still hear the head elf's side of the conversation. Bernard nodded heading over and taking a seat on the appropriately forest green couch near the door. The couch, a matching arm chair and a standup lamp were the only pieces of furniture in the room but it looked far from barren. They were ancient looking things, but not nearly as old as the elf or the sprite in the room. Bernard lazily began tracing the golden mulberry leaves embroidered into the couch fabric losing himself in his thought processes. "So, spill it!" Fiona's disembodied voice called out from behind the door bringing Bernard back to reality. "I haven't seen you in a year and you're crankier than normal. What's the deal?"

Bernard smiled to himself. Having almost only botanical magic and spending most of her time around them, Fiona tended to do most things in mortal fashion. It would have been easy enough for her to snap her fingers and change her clothes, but that wasn't her way. It was always interesting and strangely endearing from the standpoint of an elf that usually depended on magic to do everything. "Not a lot going on," Bernard said, avoiding her real question. "You know how it is around here."

"That's not what I meant and you know it. What was all that Jack drama I walked in on?" The doorway that sounded like Fiona asked.

Leave it to Fiona not to dance around a subject too long. "Same as every time he's here," Bernard sighed, rolling his eyes, "General mayhem and disorder. I honestly don't understand why I'm the only one who sees what a menace he is."

"Not going to lie, I think he does a lot of it because he knows he gets under your skin."

"That may be true, but I think he gets more malicious every year. We're at least three days behind now thanks to him." The elf groaned leaning his head on the back of the couch and closing his eyes.

The door opened and Fiona re-entered the living room, newly attired in more practical clothing. She was much more comfortable in plain black slacks and an olive green long-sleeved v-neck. Her red hair was now loose from it's braid and devoid of ribbons but large sections were still caked in glitter that would presumably be there for weeks. Plopping down next to Bernard on the couch, Fiona leaned her head on his shoulder. "Want me to help out?"

Bernard opened his eyes and gave the top of Fiona's head a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"You heard Scott, I don't have to start my work until tomorrow and I'm in a good mood. You're completely stressed out far too early in the season, B. I know you'd never ask, but I'm offering to help," Fiona said.

Slowly a relieved smile spread across the head elf's face. "I wouldn't object if you wanted to go check out the kitchen crew and see how clean up's going. I sort of, barely, trust Curtis, but I'm sure he could use a hand."

Fiona jumped off the couch with new enthusiasm. "Brilliant! I need to talk to Judy about some Cocoa anyway. You go off and do your head elf stuff and I'll check on Curtis." She offered Bernard a hand which he stared at before reluctantly accepting and the two left Fiona's ready to jump back into the fray.

*~*~*~*

An hour later, Fiona had finished helping the kitchen elves and found herself wondering why she'd offered her assistance in the first place. She was fatigued and frustrated and had lost all semblance of the happy mood she had had that morning. Her time had been spent scrapping cake batter off of the high ceilings and internally cursing her own empathy and one, Jack Frost.

Fiona caught bits and pieces of the various stories concerning the catastrophe as she worked. No one seemed completely sure what had actually happened but they all agreed that Frost had entered the kitchen, asking several questions about how things worked and suddenly the mixing machines began malfunctioning. One thing led to another and soon the entire room was filled with cake and chaos.

When Fiona had arrived, Judy had given her the ceiling assignment as she was the only one tall enough to reach the mess without too much effort. Her upper arms and back throbbed as she left the kitchen, homeward bound.

The consolation prize for the mess was a batch of warm chocolate chip cookies she had been given as a thank you and welcome back present. She had quickly devoured three of them and the fourth was resting between her teeth unaware of what promised to be an ill fate.

"Fiona," a voice called from behind her. The sprite sighed, taking the cookie from her mouth and turning around all the while knowing the frozen Cheshire grin that would be awaiting her.

"Decide to come clean up your own mess, Jack?" Fiona said, crossing her arms in front of her chest and glaring. "Hate to tell you but you're too late."

Jack chuckled, his blue eyes twinkling in an ethereal unnatural way like the ice crystals he was famous for creating. "Actually, they barred me from going back in there. Stipulation of my sticking around. You know I would have helped if I could have."

"Oh, I'm sure you would have," Fiona said, rolling her eyes before turning and starting to walk away. Something in her couldn't help but continue berating him. "You do realize you've really upset everyone _again_ , right? Personally, if I was trying to take over a holiday, which I know you are again no matter how much you deny it, I'd be subtler about it."

"Such insinuations!" Jack said, mocking shock as he hurried to catch up to her. "I'm offended you'd even suggest such things."

Fiona stopped, mid-stride and delivered a very pointed look at the nymph. "Don't play coy with me, Frost. I've known you longer than anyone else here. I know better than anyone when you're plotting. Right now, however, I think you're just being a nuisance because you can be. If you want my advice, which I'm fully aware you aren't looking for, I'd lay low for a while. At least until the Council meeting."

Hand to chin, Jack seemed to contemplate her warning. Fiona wasn't sure if it was just an act or if he was truly rationalizing it. Soon the impish grin returned to his chilled features. "Just out of curiosity, why are you trying to look out for me, Fi? You know how that gets you into trouble."

Fiona's face flushed as she continued walking. She had never actually been able to answer his question for herself. Jack Frost had a nasty habit of getting himself into various styles of trouble when he was at the North Pole, or anywhere else for that matter, and the spring sprite usually found herself defending him. As he'd pointed out it  _had_  actually gotten her into trouble before. For some reason, though, she still tried to look out for him. She often blamed it on their long history together and the fact that their seasons were dependent upon each other. Most people seemed to find this a valid excuse and left it at that. Deep down, Fiona knew it was only a half truth. "Jack, you already have too many enemies here. You need to just be grateful that I'm willing to help and be done with it."

Jack smirked but let the subject go. The two left the factory and slowly meandered toward Fiona's residence. "So, what wonderful things have you been up to this year?" Jack asked, knowing if nothing was said it would be a very long walk.

Fiona shrugged. "Same old same old. Meant to thank you for that last minute frost, by the way."

"Hey, I can't be held responsible for the remnants of my season. Once it hits March it's all your problem, my dear." He joked, running a hand through his frozen silver-blue hair.

"Touché, I guess," she said. The two walked a bit further before coming upon the Elfsburg residential area.

"Well, Fiona, I actually have some work to get done this evening, so I shall leave you here." He bowed in a gallant, overdramatic fashion that made Fiona laugh.

"Goodnight, Jack," she said, heading toward her home.

"Hey Fi," he added, when she was only a few steps away. Puzzled, Fiona whirled around and caught what she believed to be a bit of remorse in Jack's normally placid, frozen face. "Sorry, you got stuck on clean up crew back there. I'm impulsive sometimes and you, of all people, know that. This whole mess, it really was just a coincidence. I didn't sabotage the kitchen. But I'll try to be more careful…at least until the Council meeting." With the addition, his normal mischievous demeanor returned in full form.

Having not expected any form of apology, Fiona had to check to make sure her jaw was still in place and hadn't hit the pavement. She nodded and tried to smile. "Thank you."

The sprite watched as Jack departed toward the opposite side of town, his blue and silver pin stripes receding into the distance. As she nibbled on the last bits of her cookie, she wondered whether he had actually been sincere or if the point had been to see her speechless. Though most of her money rested on the latter, she couldn't help thinking that maybe that global warming thing mortals worried about was actually having an effect on even the chilly Jack Frost. Shaking her head, Fiona retreated home, hoping that the days that followed would be less troublesome than this one.


	3. Snow globes & Hot Chocolate

* * *

_I Never Loved Nobody Fully_ __  
Always One Foot on the Ground  
And by Protecting my Heart Truly  
I Got Lost in the Sound  
I Hear in My Mind All These Voices  
I Hear in My Mind All These Words  
I Hear in My Mind All This Music  
And it Breaks my Heart

Fidelity~ Regina Spektor

* * *

 

"Here you are, Fiona," Jack Frost smiled, offering a tall silver mug with a golden rim to the sprite. Fiona, sitting down at a work table, nodded absentmindedly but kept her eyes glued to the flora she had been working with.

Fiona had spent most of her time since arriving at the Pole at the greenhouse working on various projects with an elite team of gardening elves. The interior of the greenhouse was soon adorned with all manner or plant life from simple pine trees to poinsettias to less holiday oriented roses and lilies. Because of Fiona's talents and magic, the foliage grew at a faster rate than it would have under normal circumstances. By the middle of the week, many of the plants had already matured to their full potential and the GH team, as they were often known as, began prepping them for transport.

When the plants left the North Pole, they were magically spirited away to various corners of the globe where they would await a lucky someone. Each of Fiona's plants were designed to perfectly match the taste of one lucky mortal who picked them out. The perfect size tree for a small house, the brightest most colorful flower for a perfect center piece, or the perfect mistletoe for a holiday kiss; they all did their jobs and helped strengthen the magic of Christmas.

Throughout the week, Jack Frost spent much of his time "harassing" Fiona. The greenhouse served as safe haven for the nymph from the hawk-like surveillance of the number one and number two elves. They had both set about making sure there was no repeat of the incident in the kitchen. Despite the protests of her garden elves, mainly afraid that his frosty tendencies would cause them extra work, Jack continued to show up. Luckily for him, the elves trusted Fiona implicitly and knew she wouldn't have let Jack anywhere near the plants if she thought he was going to freeze them.

Truth be told, Fiona didn't mind Jack's intrusions. It wasn't as though the GH elves weren't good company, but Jack and Fiona could relate on topics the elves couldn't. Since they both dealt with the human world on a regular seasonal basis, they had more to talk about. Jack, though he should have been tending to his own work, was more than willing to talk to Fiona about anything from weather patterns to sitcoms.

At the moment, however, Fiona was too interested in her latest creation to pay Jack much mind. She gingerly ran her hand across the unopened bloom on the vine. The plant suddenly erupted into a sparkling pink chrysanthemum.

Fiona smiled triumphantly, turning back to Jack and taking the mug from his hand. "Thanks Jack." The rich aroma of chocolate and cinnamon reached her nose. Fiona sipped at the liquid, thankful that North Pole cocoa never scalded one's tongue. She closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, fully enjoying the taste for a moment. Without opening her eyes again, she addressed Jack, "So, what do you want?"

"Moi?" Jack held his hand to his chest defensively. "Do I have to have an ulterior motive to be here?"

Fiona's turquoise eyes opened, delivering a pointed look. "No, but you do have to have one to show up when I'm the only one here baring cocoa."

Jack chuckled, leaning on the table in front of her. "I assure you my intentions are pure. I'm once again, merely, attempting to elude your BFF." Though his tone was jovial, his cool blue face betrayed his distain for the head elf.

"What can I say? You're the one that wanted to stick around here. You know Bernard's vigilant and he despises you as much as you do him. Don't pretend you didn't know what you were getting into."

"You're telling me you haven't enjoyed my company this week?" Jack asked as he sipped at his own cocoa.

"I… don't turn this on me. You're the one who's using my greenhouse as your refuge. You had better be nicer to me." She finished her drink and set the mug on the table next to Jack before getting to her feet. "Now if you'll excuse me, I promised Carol I'd help her with something over at the school."

Jack's smile fell. "I bring you cocoa and you just leave like that."

"Pretty much." Fiona smirked, heading for the door. "You're welcome to stay in here if you wish. The crew's done for the night so no one will bother you until tomorrow morning."

Suddenly he was at her side another mischievous look on his face. "And what if I want to be bothered?"

Fiona chose to ignore the fairly obvious implications of his words. "I can send someone in here to bug you if you want me too. Maybe Bernard…"

"I meant by you, Fi."

His face was completely unreadable which scared Fiona more. She refused to believe that this was anything more than their normal, harmless, playful banter. "While, you know my only wish is to make you happy, Jack, I'm already late to meet Carol. You'll have to learn to deal with your Fiona-deficiency on your own."

As if on cue, the door to the greenhouse opened revealing Carol Calvin, better known now as Mrs. Clause. Fresh out of a lesson at the school house she wore a red sweater and black dress pants. Her blue eyes darted quickly between Jack and Fiona in confusion. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupted anything."

Jack took his eyes from Fiona, his entire demeanor changing as he turned toward Carol. "Not a problem Mrs. C. Fi and I had finished up here and she was on her way to see you." Listening to his saccharine-y voice, Fiona couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I'll leave you ladies to your discussion."

He smiled again, shot Fiona a look that said "we-have-more-to-talk-about-later", and exited the greenhouse. Carol's gaze followed him before once again turning back to Fiona, "What was that all about?"

Fiona shrugged still trying to play the whole thing off as she led Carol to the door. "Don't ask me, I just work here." After quickly locking the greenhouse, Fiona and Carol headed back toward the Elfsburg school house. "So, what can I do for you, Carol?"

"Actually, I got suckered into working on a project for Scott and I think you can help me," Carol said. "But it'll be easier if I show you."

Fiona nodded and the two women continued through the North Pole village. Soon they arrived at the school house a short way down the hill from the factory. The building was small, reminiscent of the one room school house of long ago. It was tall with a large golden bell hanging from the highest rafter. Having been a principle in her previous life, the one before Santa, Carol felt more comfortable behind the walls of the school. Though she was the primary teacher, she sometimes had others help her with guest lectures like Bernard, Fiona and even Santa Claus when they weren't busy. It didn't matter that Carol was teaching the younger elves who happened to be at least a hundred years older than her, it just mattered that she was teaching again.

Carol pushed open the white door and let Fiona enter first. Fiona's eyes darted around the room, attempting to take in the various objects that adorned it. There were posters and globes and books and loads of small toys more than likely made by Santa. Fiona made her way toward the front of the classroom and sat on the edge of the closest desk. Carol briefly stopped at a shelf and took something down, before joining Fiona. She sat on the edge of her own desk, placing the object next to her.

Fiona's eyes wandered over to the glass ball. "A snow globe?"

"It was Scott's idea," Carol said. "He wanted me to practice some magic. Shake it."

Fiona picked up the globe and shook it carefully. She stared though the glass and watched as the scene before her played out. The snow fell lightly as a tiny version of Fiona spun around catching the flakes on her tongue. The real Fiona looked up at her blonde friend. Carol's round face beamed in anticipation of Fiona's reaction. "It's lovely," Fiona said. "But I don't see how I can help."

"I just think it's kind of plain. I mean, I used my magic to make it so you can see a happy moment or something you really want…"

"Like playing in the snow?"

"Right, something you can't normally do, but would love to be able to do. It will change depending on what influences your life."

"It's really a great idea, Carol!"

"Scott loved it too. He wants to produce a bunch of them and send them out randomly, kind of like your plants. I want them to be just as special."

Without a word, Fiona nodded and lightly ran her finger along the silver base of the snow globe. As she traced across the silver surface, a thin green vine formed. Once the vine had completely wrapped around the base, Fiona opened her hand causing a dark blue flower to form where the metal met the glass.

Carol smiled in approval "I knew if anyone could do this, you could Fi. I love it!"

"I can make a special seed for you that you can place inside the globes when you make them so it will create the same effect." Fiona explained. "They've got a different kind of magic that allows them to live longer… like years instead of days."

"Thank you." Carol said as she threw her arms around the sprite's shoulders. "Hey, why don't you take this one? It's the least I can do for your help."

Fiona stood, sheltering her new possession against her side, "Glad to be of service, Carol. I'll go work on those seeds."

*~*~*~*~*

The rest of the next week and a half flew by relatively quickly. Before anyone was really ready, the day of the emergency Council meeting arrived. Fiona was in her greenhouse as always when Bernard came racing inside in a more frenzied state than usual. "Fiona, are you ready?"

The only sight of Fiona inside the house, were two black converses sticking out from under a long brown table. Fiona looked up instinctively and smacked the back of her head into the table above her. Hissing in pain she held the throbbing part of her skull "Hi, B." Fiona mumbled, eyes clenched shut as she scooted out from under the table and tried to get past her pain.

"Are you okay?" Bernard's face paled considerably. "What are you doing down there?"

"Before the concussion?" Fiona quipped as she stood up and brushed off her green shirt and long black skirt. "Trying to fix the sprinkler systems. What's going on?"

Bernard looked at her with tired eyes. "Getting ready for the Council meeting. Santa sent me to get you."

Fiona knew the look in her eyes betrayed her confusion as any happiness or hope present in Bernard's features disappeared. She mentally slapped herself, "I totally forgot that was today. Let me finish this up and I'll meet you outside." Bernard nodded reluctantly and exited the greenhouse.

Once he was out of earshot Fiona groaned and turned to her nearest elf, Leslie, giving her instructions on what to do while she was at the Council meeting. She explained which plants needed watering, which needed feeding and what to do if the sprinklers started acting up again. "…And when everyone is done here, they can head home early," She added with a smile.

Leslie's face lit up. "I'll let everyone know," she said in a small sweet voice. "Fi, you're so much more fun to work for than Bernard."

"Les, he's right outside, he might hear you," she teased. "However, I appreciate the admiration." She gave Leslie a friendly pat on the shoulder and left the greenhouse.

Outside, Bernard leaned against the glass staring at the sky, lost deep in thought. Fiona knew he was mentally far away from the present time and place, more than likely mulling over mental lists of things that needed the be done. Fiona had seen that look countless times before but she had never actually asked him where he went on these out of body experiences. Despite their lengthy friendship, Fiona didn't feel it was right to ask a personal question like that. She knew she wouldn't want Bernard asking her where she went when she spaced out. Fiona pointedly cleared her throat, snapping the elf back into reality. His brown eyes fell on her, embarrassed he hadn't been paying attention. "Hey, Fi."

"Hey you, ready to go?" Fiona asked.

Bernard nodded and the two made their way to the factory. Entering the huge double doors, they passed by several hundred elves all working fervently away at their latest creations. On any other occasion, Bernard would have been overseeing the work, giving the elves compliments and critiques as they labored away. Days like today when there were big important meetings or deliveries or other essential Christmas preparations, the elves worked independently. Fiona secretly felt they never worked as hard without their boss's presence. It wasn't that they slacked off, but no matter how cynical he seemed at times, Bernard's genuine concern for all things Christmas rubbed off on the worker elves and produced higher quality work.

Out of the factory and down one of the countless hallways leading to the other indoor facilities of the North Pole, Bernard paused in front of a set of large oak double doors with ornate colorful glasswork decoration. "I have to go make sure Santa's ready, promise me you'll behave yourself."

Fiona figured he was kidding, but she didn't appreciate the tone. The sprite was known for becoming feistier when the Council of Legendary Figures was involved. Not being an official member, Fiona wasn't at every meeting, but when she was there, there were plenty of snarky comments to go around. She placed her hands on her hips, "I don't know, I might just go crazy and attack the Council. Vine them up and take over every holiday for myself." Bernard's expression fell. Fiona always knew he was stressed when he didn't even give her a smirk. "Relax B! This will all be quick and painless and I promise I'll bite my tongue." She demonstrated by performing said action.

Finally, a smile threatened to break the Head Elf's placid features. Fiona, content with this, flashed a smile back at him and headed into the North Pole meeting room.


	4. Meetings & Decisions

* * *

_From my head to my heart_  
Can't seem to find a way, they're so far apart  
It's not you, it's not your fault  
You've got everything I could ever want  
And you've always understood my intentions are good  
And we've been so close from the start  
But the furthest distance I've ever known  
Is from my head to my heart

From My Head to My Heart – Evan & Jaron

* * *

 

Fiona was surprised when she entered the meeting hall and was greeted by Jack Frost. He smiled his usual large frosty grin and pointed to the golden name plate to his left sporting Fiona's name in black calligraphy letters. Fiona smirked as she made her way over to her seat at the ridiculously long table set up for the members of the Council of Legendary Figures. Fiona found it strange that the first two people present were the black sheep of the group. She and Jack were the heralds of seasons not holidays; the set up for the bigger acts. Fiona got along well with the rest of the Council and they all seemed to enjoy and respect her, so she never understood why her skills weren't as highly regarded. She didn't know why members like the Tooth Fairy or the Sandman, who didn't even have actual holidays, were held in higher respect then those who decided how the holidays actually turned out, seasonally speaking. It didn't really bother her much, at least not that she let on. Jack, on the other hand, had difficulties with it. Fiona knew this was why he often dreamed of usurping Santa Claus. She figured he would have taken any holiday he could have gotten no matter the cost but Christmas being closest to his season was where his attentions had turned. He reall had nothing to complain about though; at least most of the world actually _knew_ his name.

Fiona flopped down in her high backed red chair with little grace. Her skirt billowed up around her and she quickly pushed it back underneath herself. Had the other figures been there, she might have tried to be more polite or lady-like and not so much like the rebellious fairy she had a reputation for behaving as. Jack would never judge her by the way she sat like Mother Nature would. Considering he'd also be making vicious comments about the meeting under his breath, Fiona was glad he was there and that she wouldn't have to endure this alone.

Before she could emit a formal greeting to Jack, the door opened again revealing a 5'8 brown rabbit in a blue vest. He hopped his way over to the table finding his name plate across from the two seasonal creatures. "Fiona," his whiskers and nose twitched before he smiled. "You're looking beautiful as always."

Fiona blushed slightly, "Thanks EB, how have you been this year?"

The enormous rabbit, shrugged as he pulled out his chair and sat down "Not too bad, not too bad. Yourself?"

"Pretty good, meant to thank you for some good egg hiding this year. You know I'm usually the first to find them if the kids don't and I hardly found any rotten ones."

"That's what I try for: Not so easy that the kids get bored, but not so hard that we end up with that wonderful rotten smell come August."

Fiona laughed, "Well, you did good then." As she continued chatting with the Easter Bunny, the rest of the Council began filing into the meeting room. First was the Tooth Fairy, followed by the Sandman, Father Time and Cupid. The latter, irritated as always, immediately started to fight with Jack about the past year’s killing frost present on his holiday. Soon all the holidays were weighing in on the subject. Fiona sighed crossing her arms over her chest and wishing the holiday spectrum wasn't so dominated by testosterone.

She finally looked up when the North Pole entourage entered the room. Santa Clause, followed by Carol, Bernard and Curtis, smiled broadly as he made his way to his seat on the opposite side of Jack, immediately distracting from the physical and magical fight likely to break out. Carol took the seat to Santa's left and gave Fiona a reassuring smile from the opposite side of Jack's blue pin stripes. Fiona wondered if the table had purposely been segregated into North Pole and non-North Pole related Council members. Once Santa had finished his 'hello's' and sat down, Bernard and Curtis took their places behind their boss, arms folded behind their backs in a professional looking manner. Fiona stifled a laugh and received a confused look from the corner of Bernard's eye. She had to try even harder to control herself.

"So, when's this meeting going to get started?" Cupid asked, the most vocal and impatient of those assembled.

"Whenever Nat decides to show up," Fiona assured the angry flying man in the diaper. Fiona was the only one who ever addressed Mother Nature by the more colloquial 'Nat.' No one was quite sure why, but only she could get away with being so informal to the honorary leader of the Council. It was seemingly the only thing Mother Nature ever let her get away with.

Conversations continued as those assembled waited for Mother Nature to arrive. Silently, they all knew something had to be extremely wrong for Mother Nature to be late to a Council Meeting she'd arranged, especially considering it was an "emergency." Finally, a large puff of green smoke appeared next to Father Time and took the shape of the woman the Council had been waiting less then patiently for. The woman was tall with dark luminescent skin. She was adorned from her head dress to her long dress in fall foliage, the true personification of nature. Coughing once as the smoke began to dissipate, she looked at the congregation "Sorry, I'm late."

"Maybe if she didn't insist on such elaborate entrances," Jack whispered to Fiona. She smacked him playfully and turned her attention back to Mother Nature.

Mother Nature continued, "Freak hurricane off the coast of Florida, lots of displaced dolphins… I'd rather not get into it." The woman closed her eyes, taking a breath to steady herself. "Anyway, I trust you're all wondering why I called this meeting."

There was a general murmur of agreement though no one spoke outwardly. Mother Nature nodded. "We have an issue that needs immediate attention. A member of the Council of Legendary Figures is missing." There was another collective expression between the council members, this time in the form of a gasp. They looked between those present attempting to discern who was missing in action. All the major holidays and season seemed to be present and accounted for aside from the few holidays who didn't choose to participate in the council.

After a few more seconds of silent eye flicks, realization dawned on Santa's face. "Angelica."

Mother Nature gave a sad nod of confirmation. Eyes went wide as each council member attempted to determine how such a thing could happen. Angelica was the literal embodiment of the Christmas Spirit. Things like the warm feeling a mortal talked about during the holiday season, the light in a child's eyes when they truly believe in flying reindeer, and the cathartic feeling of a fresh winter snow could all be attributed to Angelica. It was her job to spend most of her time in the mortal world during the season, making little Christmas miracles happen. "I don't think I need to stress how much of a disaster this could potentially be," Mother Nature said, pulling everyone away from their thoughts. "Without Angelica, Christmas as we know it could cease to exist in the hearts of mortals."

"Mother Nature?" Jack piped up. Fiona tried to ignore the almost evil look that graced his face. Mother Nature nodded to recognize him. "Can you explain to me how no one around here knew about this? Shouldn't they have been keeping tabs on her or something?"

It was a valid question, but Fiona didn't like how Jack had asked it. She knew it wasn't Scott's fault. Though she didn't want to seem paranoid, Fiona knew Angelica's disappearance could potentially signal something very bad. All eyes turned to Santa who was just as confused as the rest of them. He shook his head, "Angelica isn't really our concern around here. She comes and goes as she pleases, usually helping at the beginning and end of the season, but staying down south most of the year."

"But she does check in with me from time to time," Mother Nature finished explaining, "And we haven't heard from her in over a month now. Father Time and I think we've figured out a way to track her down, but someone here has to be willing to go retrieve her."

"Who do you plan on sending?" The Tooth Fairy asked the question everyone had been thinking. "I mean, I'd love to go and help you guys out, but right after Halloween is one of my busiest times. All that tooth rotting candy."

"We know anyone of you would be willing to help and we've been trying to assess our options," Mother Nature assured them. "Really the only one of us with any extra time right now is the Easter Bunny, but I'm not sure if sending a human sized rabbit into a highly populated area is the best way to keep a low profile." There was more silence as everyone attempted to process the information.

"I can do it." The barely audible decree caused everyone to turn at once to the voice at the end of the table. Fiona shrank under the weight of their stares, hoping she hadn't actually said anything out loud. The reaction of the council proved to her she was wrong. Words continued to pour from her mouth before she could stop them, "I know the human world; I'm there half the year. I've got a capable greenhouse team working for me this year that can handle the workload and have the deliveries on time. If you can track her, I can hopefully be in and out with Angie in no time. That is if it's okay with Santa."

The heavy stares that had burdened Fiona quickly shifted back to the red suited man at the opposite end of the table. His hand rested on his chin thoughtfully for a moment, "I don't see why it wouldn't be okay, as long as you think your elves can handle it," He said then added, "But I don't like the idea of you heading out there alone. We don't know why Angelica's missing and I, for one, don't want you getting hurt or going missing yourself."

There was another murmur of agreement with Santa's statement. Fiona tried not to dwell on the idea that they all cared whether she disappeared or was captured by some oggity boogity. "Well we had a hard-enough time deciding I'd go… who do you suggest come with me? I mean who has the time?"

There was another long pause; shifting gazes filling the room again. Finally, Carol spoke, "Fiona, Bernard will go with you."

Santa looked at his wife, their eyes locked in the silent conversation only married couples could understand. He nodded finally. "That's a great idea."

The number one elf, who had been lost in thought over what had possibly possessed Fiona to volunteer her services in the first place, turned to his boss with large brown eyes. "Santa, what!? No offence, I'd love to help Fiona, but we have preparations to attend to. There's less than two months until Christmas."

"Bernard, everything's on schedule right now," Santa rationalized, "Fiona needs an escort and we can handle things here. It'll only be a couple days."

"And if Bernard isn't up for helping you Fi, I could always escort you," Jack grinned, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"I'll go with her," Bernard quickly interjected, shooting a noticeable glare at the back of Jack's head.

"Then it's settled," Mother Nature concluded. "Fiona and Bernard will go find Angelica as quickly as they can and bring her back to the North Pole before her absence has any effect of Christmas this year. Until she is found this meeting is adjourned."

The council members slowly rose from their seats, saying goodbyes and wishing Fiona luck. Soon the only people left were Mother Nature, Santa Clause, Fiona and Bernard. Bernard continued to argue with Santa over his decision. Santa tried to rationalize that he, Curtis, Carol and the rest of the elves were more than capable of running things by themselves, that it would only be a few days, and that everything would be okay.

Fiona, bored with Bernard's futile attempts to ditch her, walked back over to the meeting table and leaned heavily against the edge of it. "Are you sure you're up for doing this, Fi?" Mother Nature's smooth voice cut into Fiona's thoughts.

She looked up confidently. "I said I'd find her and I will. Besides, it's not like anyone else was volunteering."

"Well, that's a good attitude. Here, take this." Mother Nature handed Fiona a polished flat blue stone the size of the sprite's hand. "It's a locater." She waved her hand over the surface causing two lights to flash on a small map. "The white one is us; the red, we believe, is Angelica."

Fiona stared at the blinking lights a second longer, "So where is she in relation to us?"

"Around Minnesota… we think."

"The phrase 'we think' doesn't instill confidence."

"Well it's not like we have tracking devices on council members. We tried to predict it based off the last place we sensed her magic signature."

Fiona nodded. Each mystical creature had their own unique pattern of magic that could be felt by others when it had been used. It was the most likely way to track a rouge Council member but it wasn't 100% fool proof. "So, then we're off to Minnesota?"

"That's perfect," Santa said as he joined the women, a dejected looking Bernard standing beside him.

Fiona raised an eyebrow. "It is?"

"That's where Charlie and Laura live. I'm sure you two can stay there." Fiona knew Scott's son, Charlie, fairly well, but had never actually met his ex-wife. Still, the prospect of having a place to stay, with people that would be willing to help seemed promising. "I'll call them right now."

Mother Nature clapped her hands together. "All right then. Santa, you call your relatives and why don't you two plan on leaving tomorrow night? That way you have time to get everything in order.” The group agreed and with a goodbye and a final wave, Mother Nature disappeared in another puff of green smoke.

Santa left the meeting room to call Laura leaving only Bernard and Fiona. "Done pouting yet, B?" Fiona asked. The elf shot her a glare. "Look, I get why you’re upset. If you don't want to do this, I'm not going to make you. Scott might, but I don't want you coming if you're just going to be freaking out the whole time."

"I'll be fine, Fiona," Bernard reassured her, though his eyes threatened to betray him. "And really, it's not that I don't want to help you and Angelica, it's just… I'm worried about the factory."

"As any stellar head elf should be," Fiona smiled, linking her arm in his and leading him toward the doors of the conference room. "But without Angie you wouldn't be head elf because there wouldn't be Christmas. So, think of it as job security."

Bernard gave her a half smile as he opened the door, "You know you’re really terrible at pep talks, right?”


	5. Packing & Disguises

* * *

Just so you know  
This feeling's takin' control of me  
And I can't help it  
I won't sit around I can't let him win now  
Thought you should know   
I've tried my best to let go of you but I don't want to  
I just gotta say it all before I go  
Just so you know

Just So You Know~ Jesse McCartney

* * *

 

The next day seemed to move at a frantic pace. Fiona ran around the greenhouse, preparing the transports for pick-up, getting the other plants ready to be cultivated and instructing her elves on what to do during her absence. Leslie was put in charge and though she seemed leery of Fiona's departure, she trusted Fiona and assured the sprite that she'd keep things together while she was gone. Around five pm, Fiona finally left her work and retreated back to her home.

Closing the front door, she made her way to the bedroom and flopped down onto the piles of blankets, pillows and unpacked clothing on her bed. Closing her eyes and pulling the off-white comforter over her head as best as she could, Fiona attempted to bury herself within the linens. She once again questioned her sanity in undertaking the task awaiting her. Beneath her cloth cocoon she barely heard the knock at the front door. She lifted her head enough to utter a grunt that she hoped the visitor would take to mean, "Come in."

The door opened slowly and a familiar voice said, "Fiona?"

Fiona sat up and faced the doorway. Jack stood in the front room, his face full of confusion as he stared at the bizarre frazzled sprite before him. Fiona realized her hair was sticking out in seven different directions and ran a hand through it attempting to smooth the rebellious scarlet strands. She smiled though she knew she looked fairly insane.

Jack walked further into the room. "Did I interrupt something?"

"Just a mild freak out," Fiona admitted as she stood up readjusting her rose colored long sleeved shirt. "Finished with work, should be packing, decided to bury myself alive."

"That's an interesting way to go." He mused, pushing aside a pile of shirts and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Exactly how I saw it. Figured it'd throw everyone off."

"So, I'm guessing you're excited to be going to Minnesota."

"How could you tell?"

"Call it a hunch," Jack shrugged, leaning back on his hands. "It shouldn't be that bad."

Fiona unzipped a green duffle bag that lay next to Jack. Grabbing various articles of clothing from the floor, she stuffed them inside haphazardly. "I know. I just have a flair for the over dramatic. You know me."

"Sure you don't want me to come along too?"

Fiona stared at his icy blue eyes sure his question was actually sincere, "Thanks Jack, but it's probably for the best if you don't. The Council doesn't trust you all that much and there are going to be enough issues without you and Bernard being at each other's throats the whole time."

"Hey, that's not my fault! He has a short temper and I'm naturally…. Impish"

Fiona snorted, "You're naturally something alright."

"I'm taking that as a compliment," he grinned standing up and staring eye level at Fiona.

"Take it however you like."

Without warning, Jack threw his arms around her causing Fiona to tense. It took her a moment before she realized he was hugging her. She relaxed and patted him on the back gently. "Do me a favor and be safe, okay?" Since the powers of one legendary figure could never affect another, Fiona never feared being frozen to death by Jack's touch. But his breath was frigid against her pointed ear and she shivered involuntarily.

Fiona took a step away from him, resting her hands on his upper arms. "I'll do my best." She smiled reassuringly. "Just promise me you'll behave yourself while we're gone." Jack agreed and smiled back before explaining that he had to leave, having snow flurries and icicle deliveries he'd been putting off because of the impending Council meeting. He stressed that if anything went wrong she knew how to reach him and shouldn't hesitate to do so. With a final hug Jack departed leaving Fiona to her packing and her thoughts.  
  
*~*~*~*

An hour or so later, there was another knock at the door. Fiona hurried over and threw the door open. Before her was the last person she expected, Curtis. He blinked up at her. "Santa sent me to bring you to the stables."

Fiona rolled her eyes. "Because I don't know how to get there on my own?" She turned and walked back into the living room, grabbing a dark green scarf off the table and pulling it around her neck.

Curtis took a step inside, looking slightly confused "That's not it, he just…"

"Relax, Curtis. I'm just picking on you. I know it's because Bernard's probably being difficult and they sent you for me while they dealt with him." She assured him, shrugging her black trench coat on and slinging her duffle over her shoulder. Curtis grinned and turned around bound for the stables. Fiona let out one last reluctant sigh, locked the door behind her and hurried to catch up with the number two elf.

*~*~*~*

The stables were quiet when the elf and sprite entered seeming a direct contradiction to the overwhelming rushed feeling Fiona had had all day. She assumed Scott had been trying to keep the ordeal low key. It would hopefully only be a few days but she knew the elves would be reluctant to have their head elf gone on a possibly dangerous mission. Luckily this time, unlike the year before, they weren't outwardly lying to the elves or replacing Bernard with a toy version of himself.

In the middle of the stable sat a single sleigh; one Scott often used when going 'down south' to visit his son or the rest of his family. Comet stood hitched to the front of it, awaiting passengers. Fiona walked over to the reindeer dropping her bag next to the sleigh and stroking the animal's muzzle affectionately. "Ready for all this Comet?" The reindeer cooed at her but looked as worried as Fiona felt.

"They should be here any minute," Curtis said.

Fiona smiled at the nervous looking number two elf. "It's all good. Better to let them take they're time and make sure everything's going to go smoothly."

Curtis stared at his feet, shuffling them. "Yeah."

Fiona placed a hand on his shoulder causing him to look up at her through his thick glasses. "Everything's going to be alright. This is your chance to prove yourself. Make up for the stuff last year." The elf looked back down at his feet. Fiona raised his chin with her hand making his eyes meet hers again. "I know you're going to do fine."

Curtis sighed looking back up at Fiona with a new kind of hope. She seemed to have said the right thing. "Thanks, Fi. Just promise me you'll hurry back."

"I'll try my best, but that all depends on if Bernard ever shows up."

As if on cue, the doors to the stables opened again, but instead of Bernard and Santa, in walked Carol. She headed straight for Curtis and Fiona looking exhausted. Fiona realized her own face must have been filled with curiosity because Carol said, "They're on their way. Bernard's just…" She paused, unsure of how to phrase the rest of her sentence

"Telling Scott every microscopic detail of what he has to do while he's gone?" Fiona offered.

Carol laughed and nodded. "His hearts in the right place, he's just… well, he's Bernard."

"Maybe this would have been easier if I'd taken Jack instead." Fiona muttered.

Curtis gave her a look that said "you've-got-to-be-kidding-me" which caused Fiona to laugh out loud. The three conversed a bit about the journey to come and the state of the factory before the doors were once again thrown open, this time revealing Scott. He too looked tired but smiled as he joined the others.

Behind him was an unfamiliar looking man. It took Fiona longer than it should have to recognize him. Fiona didn't approve of the lack of color present in his black pants, dark purple shirt and black leather jacket. His brown curls fell long and loose in front of his paler than normal face and covered his pointed ears. There was no sign of his trademark beret. Bernard trudged over to the other's staring at the ground and frowning considerably.

Fiona attempted a reassuring smile when he finally looked up. He gave her a half-hearted smile, as she noticed the missing sparkles of his cheeks and his less luminous brown eyes. She tried not to let her features change as she wondered how stark her own change must have been to others between her spring and winter looks.

Before she could say anything, Curtis interjected, "Whoa, Bernard! You look weird."

The head elf shot his second-in-command a dirty look. "Thanks, Curtis," He replied sarcastically. "Can we go now?"

Fiona decided not to mention that he had been the one holding them up until this point and nodded. Bernard stalked off toward the sleigh, loading both his bag and Fiona's in the back.

"Please be careful," Carol implored as she hugged Fiona. "I had Judy put some cookies in the sleigh for you guys."

"Thanks, Carol."

"Call us as soon as you get to Laura's" Scott said as Fiona gave him a hug as well.

"I'll take care of him," She whispered.

Scott nodded as she pulled away. "Thank you."

Fiona quickly hugged Curtis and hurried over to the sleigh. Bernard was already seated with Comet's reigns in his hands. "Who said you got to drive?" she said as she sat down. Bernard didn't answer but raised an eyebrow at her. Fiona rolled her eyes. "You better get your sense of humor back soon or else this is going to be a very long trip."

"I…" he started, but changed his train of thought. "Let's just get this over with."

"Someone's unhappy cause he doesn't have his hat."

"Are you going to stop this anytime soon?"

"Once you stop being Mr. Grumpy Pants."

"Cute, really. Ready?"

Fiona sat back crossing her arms over her chest in a huff, "I guess I have to be."

With that, Bernard pulled at the reigns signaling to Comet that it was time to go. The reindeer began running and at the end of the North Pole landing strip took off into the sky and out the secret entrance to Santa's village.

*~*~*~*~*

Most of the trip was made in silence. Fiona didn't care for Bernard's dark mood and decided she was sick of trying to engage him in conversation. She ate through several cookies and gazed out across the slightly cloudy star filled sky.

"I'm sorry, Fi." Bernard finally said sometime later.

"About what?"

The elf sighed, "For being myself. I just... today's been stressful."

"You think you're the only one? Today was crazy for everyone! I told you if you didn't want to come you didn't have to."

"It's not that!" Bernard said. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to come. I just don't want to factory going under while I'm gone."

"Bernard, will you stop taking everything on yourself? You know as well as I do that Scott, Carol and Curtis are all capable of taking care of things while you're gone. It'll be fine."

"I know, I just… never mind."

Fiona sighed "I know there's some other reason you're paranoid about all this, besides the obvious dangers and you don't have to tell me. However, you do have to buck up! Try to relax a little. I know it's never been your thing. I mean you haven't had a vacation in a few hundred years it's about time, right?" She took hold of his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder.

Bernard looked down at his friend who didn't see his mouth open and close several times before he found the right words. "I'll try. You know it's not something I'm good at."

"Don't worry, I'll help you," Fiona said, then stifled a yawn and snuggled closer to his arm.

He smiled, genuinely for the first time in hours, "Thank you." Fiona, however, didn't hear him having already fallen asleep. Bernard reached behind him, pulling a large brown blanket out and skillfully placing it over Fiona with one hand. He turned his attention back to the front of the sleigh as they continued their flight through the late-night sky.


	6. Dreams & Reindeer Flights

* * *

_Every time you smile, there's sunshine_  
_There's something in your eyes, I can't deny_  
_Your gravity, keeps pulling me in_  
_It happens all the time_  
_Every time you're standing near me_  
_And every time I hear you say my name_  
_I get a rush, and all I see is you_  
_It happens all the time_

It Happens All the Time - Tyler Shaw

* * *

 

  _"Are you really leaving Fi?" Judy asked, her arms wrapped tightly around the sprite's waist. Fiona looked down at the cocoa elf, managing a half smile. She knew this wasn't real and that her strange mind had decided to take her back in time over fifty years when all she wanted to do was sleep peacefully. The only way to get over this was to play along. "Tell me it's not for good."_

_Fiona sighed patting Judy's head lightly. "Not for good, for a little while though."_

_Judy's brown eyes shot up to meet Fiona's. They were dangerously close to letting lose a torrent of tears. "We didn't do anything wrong did we. I'm sorry I got you in trouble!"_

" _No!" Fiona blurted bending down and wrapping her friend in a tighter hug, "It's not you at all. It… it's this Santa, and you know that. I just need to be away from the Pole for a while."_

_The elf pulled away, wiping a few tears away that had managed to escape. She nodded, "I'll send you cookies and cocoa whenever you need them."_

" _I would absolutely love that!" Fiona smiled hugging Judy again._

_Her mind skipped then._

_She was now standing in the stables; duffle bag on her shoulder and Curtis blathering on about something. Fiona continued to survey the room, looking for someone. Suddenly Curtis stopped talking and looked at the sprite pointedly._

" _Are you going to say goodbye to him?"_

_Fiona snapped back to reality and stared at the elf for a second. His horn-rimmed glasses sat low on his nose and he had a hint of secret knowledge in his eyes. Fiona sighed, "I was thinking about it."_

" _We'll suffer less around here if you do." Fiona laughed slightly, closing her eyes._

_Opening them again she found she now stood in front of a large wooden door. She knocked more softly then she should have, wondering if her subconscious really didn't want the call answered. A noise vaguely resembling the words "Come in" sounded from the other side. Fiona timidly pushed the door open, sticking her head through the entry._

" _I thought you left." His words weren't upset but neither were they relieved. Fiona took a steadying breath as she watched the back of her friend. Bernard sat at a desk on the opposite side of the room, hunched over whatever project had been occupying his time._

" _Not gone quite yet," Fiona said, glancing between Bernard and the various piles of work spread across the room. Pieces of the memory were too fuzzy to make out clear details, but Fiona had seen the room often enough in real life not to miss the details. The head elf, with his back to her, was the clearest aberration. "I thought I'd come say goodbye."_

" _Are you really not coming back?"_

" _Not next year."_

_There was no response._

" _I need some time alone."_

_Still silence._

" _All right then…" Fiona turned to leave, knowing she was getting nowhere._

" _Fiona." She spun on her heels. Bernard was now standing and had somehow gotten no more then a foot from Fiona. "I'm sorry."_

_Fiona tried to smile. "Don't be. It's not all your fault. Tell me you're not that conceded."_

" _I.. I'm not… I just…" he stuttered._

_Fiona sighed, "Just hug me and tell me you'll see me soon."_

_The elf did as he was told, taking his friend in his arms and holding her close. "I'll miss you. Come back soon."_

_Fiona pulled away and kissed him lightly on the cheek before turning and leaving the room._

_The spring sprite left the North Pole that night, planning on returning once a new Santa took over._

_She didn't return for nearly forty years._

_She never regretted it_

_Except when she had to relive it in her dreams_

Fiona wasn't sure how much time had passed when she joined the waking world again. She opened her eyes slowly, blinking away any left-over sleep and letting go of most of the images from her dream. It took her a moment to remember that she was in a sleigh miles above the Earth. She sat up, releasing Bernard's ensnared arm and stretching her hands up over her head.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," he chided her stretching out his own arm which had lost feeling ages ago. It fell limply at his side, awaiting the pin pricks of re-circulating blood.

Fiona stuck her tongue out in the most mature move her thousand-year-old brain could come up with in the short time since its reboot. She pulled her legs up onto the bench tucked the blanket in closer around her. "How much further?"

"Not too much longer. Probably twenty or thirty minutes."

Fiona nodded, leaning back against the plush cushion of the sleigh. She loved how quickly North Pole reindeer flew. They were the fastest mode of magical transportation she took besides teleportation. Fiona didn't like teleporting. There were too many factors that caused complications, especially when she was in her weaker winter state. Scott knew this and accommodated accordingly. Hence, why the sprite and elf were flying through the sky toward Minnesota.

"Want me to drive for a while?" Fiona offered. Bernard gave her a sideways look as if there had to be a catch. "Oh, don't go all guy on me! You can't feel your arm anyway."

"And who's fault is that?" Fiona smiled and batted her eyelashes innocently. Bernard resisted a smile as she reached over him and took the reigns from his hands.

Comet veered slightly and made and angered noise before getting back on course. "Sorry, Comet," Fiona called to the reindeer. Honestly, she didn't think he really needed a driver. Comet knew the path better than his passengers.

As the reindeer righted itself, Bernard grumbled in resignation. He pulled his coat closer and crossed his arms.

"Please don't get all huffy on me again," Fiona sighed, watching the sky before them. She took the reign in her right hand and pulled the blanket out from under herself, offering a portion of it to Bernard. He smiled reluctantly and pulled the fleece close. "I'm just trying to be nice."

"I know that."

"So, what's the problem?"

"Honestly?"

"Yeah, honestly."

"I don't feel right about this?"

Fiona's eyebrow rose. "About what? Leaving the factory? We've been over this. They can take care of it."

Bernard shook his head. "No, that's not it. I think it has to do with this mission in general. Bad feeling about it."

"I didn't know elves got premonitions," Fiona commented.

"Neither did I, actually."

"Well at least there's a kind of real reason."

"Why?"

Fiona smiled to herself. "Because I thought you were just upset you didn't have your beret."

Bernard rolled his eyes. "Thanks for being sympathetic Fi."

"Hey I'd be sad too if my head was cold." she looked at him, repressing more laughter then she knew the lame series of jokes warranted.

Bernard groaned, once again trying not to catch the contagious smile. "Are we there yet?"

  
A short time later, Comet made his final descent through the skies of Minnesota. He flew toward a small suburb, silently and inconspicuous in the dark evening sky. The animal landed expertly in the freshly fallen snow in the backyard of an ordinary looking house. His passengers thanked their stars they had been given a veteran reindeer for a trip that already promised unforeseen difficulties. Fiona secured the reins as Bernard stepped down and pulled both of their bags from the back compartment. His steps crunched loudly as he made his way around the sleigh with the bags, setting them down and offering a hand to Fiona. She accepted and jumped down next to him, sinking down to her ankles in the snow. Wandering over to Comet, she scratched his head in appreciation of the safe flight. He cooed and nuzzled against her hand.

"Ready to go?" Fiona turned just in time to catch the duffle bag Bernard tossed to her.

She slung the bag over her shoulder and rolled her eyes; a move that made Comet chuckle in a strange reindeer way. "I was waiting for you to lead the way. You know these people better than I do."

"Barely," he said.

"I've only met Charlie."

"I'm not a people person."

"Oh, get over it!" Fiona said grabbing Bernard by the arm and pulling him toward the gate at the side of the house.

Bernard fought back. "Where are we going?"

"To the front door."

"Why? We're already back here."

Fiona sighed, opening the gate and pushing Bernard through. "Because we just established neither of us knows these people very well and we need to make a good impression. Just trust me."

  
Within seconds, the two mythical creatures stood on the stoop of the Miller's house. Bernard knocked apprehensively at the door, receiving a pointed look from Fiona. "What?!"

She reached passed him and pressed the lit doorbell sending chimes through the house. "I know you don't get out much, but it's called a doorbell," She teased.

Bernard rolled his eyes and the two stood uncomfortably in front of the house. Finally, a male voice called out through the house. "I'm coming."

A rumbling noise followed before the door suddenly sprung open revealing a teenage boy. He was about Bernard's height with light brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a plain long sleeved green shirt and blue jeans. The boy squinted through the screen door at the two visitors. Suddenly his eyes sprang open in recognition. "Bernard! Fiona!" He shouted as he opened the screen and grabbed Fiona in a hug. She giggled and hugged him back. "I barely recognized you guys. Come inside."

Bernard grumbled something and pushed past Charlie into the house. The son of Santa Claus looked to the Herald of Spring in confusion.

She shrugged, "He's just in a miffed Bernard mood." Charlie nodded as if this explained everything and quickly ushered Fiona inside the house. Fiona was more than thankful for the smiling face and the warm home.


	7. Little Girls & Teenage Boys

* * *

_All of the Things That I Wanna Say_  
_Just Aren't Coming Out Right_  
_I'm Tripping on Words_ _You Got my Head Spinning_  
_I Don't Know Where to Go From Here._  
_Cause It's You and Me_ _And All of the People_  
_With Nothing to Do; Nothing to Lose_  
_And It's You and Me_ _And All of the People_  
_And I Don't Know Why_  
_I Can't Keep My Eyes Off of You_

You and Me- Life House

* * *

 

"Mom!" Charlie yelled loudly, "Bernard and Fiona are here!"

Fiona chuckled to herself as she took off her scarf and heavy jacket. Being around mortals always made her happy. It wasn't as though elves and other creatures didn't have their own charms; mortals just had an odd endearing quality about them that fascinated the sprite.

"So, how's it going, Charlie?" Fiona asked as Charlie took her coat. "How's Danielle?"

Charlie tried unsuccessfully to hide the blush that tinged his cheeks at the mention of his girlfriend. "I'm doing all right and she's good."

Before the small talk could proceed any further, a middle-aged brunette woman made her way down the main staircase and into the foyer. She beamed when she saw the house guest but did a double take at Bernard. "Is that you Bernard?" The elf smiled, subconsciously running a hand through his curled hair. "You look so different."

"Tell me about it." He mumbled.

"It's not a bad thing," the woman laughed, grabbing Bernard in a hug. Her attention then turned to the other guest. "And you must be Fiona." Fiona nodded before also being hugged.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Laura." Fiona said as Santa Claus's ex-wife let her go.

"Same goes for you. Scott told me a lot about you."

"Only the good things I hope."

"He said you'd be able to fix my garden if anything." Fiona couldn't help laughing at Laura's infectious enthusiasm. "Anyway, you two are welcome to make yourselves at home. Charlie can help you to your rooms."

"Where are Neil and Lucy?" Bernard asked.

"They're getting dinner. They should be back soon." Laura said.

"Come on," Charlie said, grabbing Fiona's bag, "We'll take your stuff upstairs." Fiona and Bernard shared a look and a shrug. Charlie took this as his cue headed up the staircase with Fiona behind him and Bernard following after.

*~*~*~*~*

Once they reached the second floor, Charlie pointed to the first door. "So, the deal is, we only have one guest room. Mom was thinking Bernard could have it and Fiona, you can bunk in my sister Lucy's room. If that's okay."

"Fine with me," Fiona smiled. "Bernard?"

"I'm getting my own room. I'm not complaining."

"That's a first." Bernard, who had begun to enter the guest room, turned and shot her a glare. Fiona laughed and followed Charlie two rooms further down the hallway. He opened the door and Fiona was greeted by the bright colors of a young girl's bedroom.

The walls were white which off set the pink princesses and purple ponies that decorated the room. There was a twin sized bed and a comfy looking blue couch along the opposite wall. The latter, littered with stuffed animals of all shapes, sizes and species. A fairly good-sized collection of snow globes lined the shelf beneath a large window with burgundy curtains. Fiona set her bag next to the couch and sat down managing not to land on a single plush.

"It's a little girly," Charlie admitted.

Raising an eyebrow, Fiona replied, "And what am I?"

"Oh, I know... it's just," Charlie stuttered caught in word choice.

"Relax, Charlie," She smiled at him. "This'll be fine."

Charlie sighed in relief as Bernard entered the room. "We should call Santa." He said. Fiona nodded and pulled a mint green cell phone from her duffle bag. She tossed it up to Bernard who caught it effortlessly.

"It's either under Santa or Scott… I honestly can't remember," Fiona said as she stood and stretched her arms above her head. The distinct sound of chatter and a door slamming shut drifted upstairs.

"Sounds like food's here," Charlie said, stepping out into the hallway. Fiona followed him out, leaving Bernard to thumb through her phone contacts.

*~*~*~*  
  
Once back down stairs, Charlie led Fiona into the kitchen. There they found, Laura and the final two members of the Miller family. Charlie hurried over to the counter where two large pizza boxes sat. Fiona followed him but was grabbed by Laura who began making introductions. "Fiona, this is Neil, my husband."

"Pleasure to meet you, Fiona." The tall, thinly built man said. He had a strange serene sort of disposition about him that Fiona wasn't quite sure how to react to. The sweater he wore practically screamed at her. She smiled none the less and shook his hand.

"And this is Lucy," Laura told her.

The young girl smiled politely. "Hi!"

Fiona smiled back as she crouched down to meet the girl's gaze. "It's very nice to meet you Lucy."

"Do you work with my uncle Scott?" Lucy asked.

"I do, actually."

"Are you an elf?"

"Nope."

"Are you a human?"

"Nope."

"Then what are you?"

"Lucy!" Laura said from the other side of the counter, shocked at the girl's abrupt questions. Lucy looked scared for a moment, but Fiona laughed reassuringly.

"It's all right. Actually, I'm a sprite." Lucy's expression was filled with confusion. "It's kind of like a fairy, but without the pixie dust. I'm actually in charge of spring."

The girl's eyes lit up, "So you make flowers and stuff?!"

Fiona nodded. "Yup, just like this." She gently took Lucy's hand and her own above it. Suddenly a single golden Lily bloomed in her hand. Lucy's amazed gaze darted from Fiona to the flower. Fiona simply smiled.

"Mom! Did you see that?!" The girl squealed as she raced over to her mother.

"I did." Laura said. "What do you say?"

"Thank you, Fiona!" Lucy said still staring at the bloom in her hands.

"If you put it in some water, you can keep it for a really long time," Fiona explained. Laura nodded and took the flower from Lucy, heading over to the sink. Fiona stood back up and leaned on the countertop. "So where's that food I was promised?"

*~*~*~*~*

After her spectacular gift, Lucy had quickly attached herself to Fiona. The sprite didn't mind having a shadow and found Lucy's questions to be both thought provoking and hysterical. First it was her favorite color, which Fiona naturally replied to be green. Next it was why she went to one of the coldest places on earth to escape freezing temperatures. Fiona told her that the North Pole had the best climate control on Earth and several hundred years ago it had been decided it was the best place for her to go and not freeze through the winter. Then it was how it felt to be frozen all winter. Fiona explained that it wasn't good and it was very, very cold! Finally, it had ended with asking if she wanted to see Lucy's snow globe collection.

After a 'yes' to that question, Lucy had pulled Fiona upstairs to see the splendor of her collection.

"They're beautiful, Lucy," Fiona told her once the girl had presented all ten globes for her inspection.

"Thank you," Lucy smiled. "I know I don't have as many as Uncle Scott, but I'll get there someday. He said he'd show me his hall of snow globes when I go to the North Pole. Have you been there?"

Fiona nodded, leaning back lazily on the now plush free couch. The animals rested safely on the floor at the foot of Lucy's bed. "A long time ago. It's a beautiful place. I can't even begin to explain it.  You really have to see it to get the full effect. Hey, do you want to see something cool?"

Lucy nodded enthusiastically. Sitting back up, Fiona grabbed her bag out from under the couch and began sorting through it. Finally, she found the item she'd been looking for and pulled it out. Lucy stared transfixed at the snow globe with the blue flower on it. "That's so cool. But there's nothing inside it."

"Shake it." Lucy did as instructed. Suddenly her eyes went wide, "What do you see?"

"It's me…" the girl explained. "And I'm in a room with a whole bunch of toys and elves. It looks like the North Pole! That's so cool!"

Lucy handed the snow globe back to Fiona. "Yeah, your aunt Carol gave it to me. It's supposed to show you what you want. I thought it might help Bernard and me."

"What exactly are you guys trying to find?"

"The Spirit of Christmas," Fiona said, shaking the globe absentmindedly. The image of a small girl with golden ringlets and snow-white skin slowly came into view. Fiona stared at the image as it slowly became clearer.

Lucy looked confused. "Like the feeling or like a real person?"

"Real person." Fiona looked up and tried not to laugh. "Her name's Angelica and she went missing a while ago. Bernard and I were sent to go find her and bring her back to the North Pole."

Just then the bedroom door opened, revealing Charlie. He hurried over to the couch and addressed Fiona, "Fi, I need to ask you something."

Confused by the intrusion, Fiona looked to Lucy and then back to Charlie, "What's up?"

"You need to talk some sense into Bernard."

"What? Why? What'd he do now?"

"I didn't do anything!" Bernard called from the doorway. "It was Charlie."

"Was not"

"Was too!"

"Are we five years old here?" Fiona asked, handing the snow globe back to Lucy and jumping up between the elf and teen. "What happened?"

Charlie adopted a look so innocent Fiona was sure he was up to something. "I simply asked if I could come with you guys on your mission tomorrow…"

"And I simply told him there was no way!" Bernard finished stepping closer to the youth. Fiona put out a hand and he backed off. "And then he decided to come ask you."

"So, you're adopting the 'Dad said no so ask Mom' technique?" Charlie smiled sheepishly. "Why can't he go?" she asked turning back to Bernard.

"Are you serious, Fiona?"

"Yes, I'm serious, why not?"

"We're all ready going to have a hard enough time with all this. If this turns dangerous, I don't want to put anyone else in harms way. _Especially_ my boss's son." Fiona saw the genuine concern in his brown eyes.

"B, come on. He knows this town far better than you or me. I mean, when was the last time you traversed the streets of Minnesota? Or the mortal world in general for that matter."

"She has a point," Charlie piped in. Fiona turned back around shooting him a pointed look. The boy gulped and held his tongue.

Bernard sighed, "We don't even know where to start looking for her."

"Yes, we do." Fiona smiled, taking the snow globe back from Lucy. "Here."

"Is that one of the globes Carol was working on?" Fiona nodded as Bernard shook the snow globe. "She's in a mall?"

"That's what I saw too!"

"We can take my mom's car tomorrow and hit up all the malls in town until we find her," Charlie said apprehensively.

Fiona put her hands on her hips and looked at Bernard pointedly. "All right!" he finally conceded. "Charlie can come. We'll take the globe and the tracker Mother Nature gave us and hopefully we can find her quickly."

"Awesome!" Fiona smiled, sending a wink back in Charlie's direction. "Now, you boys get out of here and go get some sleep. And Charlie, make sure all of this is cool with your parents."

"I'm sure they'll be fine with it," Charlie called back as he left the room.

Bernard still looked upset as he continued to stare into the snow globe. Fiona bit her lip and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay, B. I'm really not sure how many times I can tell you that before you believe me."

The elf looked up at her with the same concerned look he had shown her earlier. "I probably won't be convinced until all this is over and we're back home safe at the Pole." He handed the snow globe back to Fiona offering a lop-sided smile with it.

Fiona returned her own reassuring smile. "Go sleep. We'll worry about all this tomorrow."

Bernard exited the room closing the door behind him and leaving Lucy and Fiona alone. "Boys are weird," Lucy finally said.

Fiona chuckled as she stared into the snow globe. The image of Angelica slowly faded away and began taking a new shape. This time, two people were slowly coming into focus. Before they were clear enough to distinguish Fiona placed the globe back into her bag. She looked up at Lucy. "You're telling me."

"Can I ask you something else?" Lucy said, walking over to her bed and sitting down.

Leaning back on the couch, Fiona lazily laid her arm over her eyes. "As long as it's not to come with us."

Lucy giggled, "Nope. I know my mom and dad would never let me. I was just wondering what's up with you and Bernard."

Fiona sat up, "What do you mean?"

"Are you two dating or like friends or what?"

"We're just friends," Fiona said. "We have been for a very long time and I basically dragged him along with me and now I think he's going to hold it against me forever. Basically you put it best: Boys are weird. And sadly, even the ones that are hundreds of years old aren't any better."

"That's kind of depressing." Lucy said.

Fiona laughed, "Like I said… you're telling me."

"I like you Fiona. You're not like most grown ups."

"You're pretty cool yourself Luc."

Lucy smiled and reached over to the lamp next to her bed. She pulled the chain and the room went dark. "Night, Fiona."

Fiona turned over on the couch and grabbed her pillow. "Goodnight, Lucy."


	8. Shopping Malls & Christmas Magic

* * *

_True there are times_  
_When her eyes meet mine and linger there_  
_Maybe a bit too long_  
_And I wonder_  
_Is there something hidden in his stare_  
_No I couldn't be more wrong_  
_Tell the night to save its moonlight_  
_Tell the birds not to sing_  
_Tell the stars I the heavens they've been misaligned_  
_Cause it's not the kind of thing._

Not That Kind of Thing- Steven Lynch & Laura Benanti

* * *

 

Around noon the next day, Charlie began wondering why he had fought so hard to join the rescue mission. So far he, Bernard and Fiona had visited three local malls to no avail. The elf and the sprite had currently stopped talking to each other. Fiona sat in the passenger seat, arms crossed over her chest as she glared out the window; Bernard, in the back seat, had a fairly similar expression.

Charlie still wasn't entirely sure what had started the tiff. As they had walked through the parking lot of the last mall Bernard had made a sarcastic comment about wishing he hadn't come at all and bad navigation skills. Fiona had exploded at him claiming she was sick of his whining and had told him several times he didn't have to come. Bernard yelled back that Santa wouldn't have let him stay and he wasn't about to let her go alone. As people began staring at the squabbling duo, Charlie managed to convince them to get into the car. The twenty-minute drive to the next mall had been made in total silence aside from the low hum of the car radio. Charlie sighed marveling at the fact that maturity didn't seem to be dependent on age.

As they entered the parking structure and began driving up the dizzying heights, Fiona sat up and grabbed her snow globe out from under the car seat. Shaking it lightly, she stared into the glass. Finally, she turned to Bernard, any earlier animosity gone from her voice. "Can I see the locater, please?"

Bernard looked shocked by the change of demeanor and nodded pulling the stone from his pocket and handing it to her. Fiona turned back around still staring into the globe and watching the small lights on the stone blink. They were now closer together than when Mother Nature had first given it to them and the red had begun to blink faster. The small map on the stone, however, didn't have enough definition to tell the exact location. Bernard leaned forward between the seats watching over Fiona's shoulder trying not to dwell too much on her mood shift.

"Anything new?" Charlie asked, watching the road and searching for any open parking spots.

Fiona shook her head. "Not really. This thing really should have come with an instruction manual."

"So, what exactly is the plan?" Bernard asked.

"We fake it, like we've been doing." Fiona grinned, knowing the elf would be unnerved by the lack of plan. She felt he deserved it after his continued jerky behavior. "We'll park and figure it out"

Almost 10 minutes later, Charlie zipped expertly into a parking spot seconds after it was abandoned receiving a loud unnecessary honk from another car that had been vying for the same position. The three would be rescuers got out of the vehicle and Charlie led the way toward the mall entrance. They narrowly missed meeting the grills of several high-speed cars hell bent on good parking and last-minute purchases.

"It's only November," Bernard marveled as Fiona pulled him away from the grill of another hot rod. Its horn echoed horridly off the walls of the parking structure. "Should it really be this crazy?"

Charlie and Fiona shared a look. "I think you've been at the pole too long," Fiona smirked. "Christmas shopping starts in August now and only gets worse from here."

"It gets worse after Thanksgiving," Charlie shuddered. "Mom always goes to those sales. One day she's going to be killed by a soccer mom who wants the last Tickle Me Elmo."

Bernard looked horrified. "And they say the Christmas spirit is dead."

"She's not dead!" Fiona declared, linking her arm with Bernard's. "She's stuck in a mall… which seems appropriate somehow." Bernard gave her an un-amused glare as the three entered the mall.

Once inside, they shared a collective groan. The mall was packed with shoppers busily and angrily hurrying to snatch up as much product as they could. In hindsight, the weekend was the _worst_ time they could have chosen to visit a mall. Then again, there hadn't been much of a choice in general.  Fiona groan, clutching Bernard's arm tighter and pulled the tracker from her coat pocket. The lights were blinking wildly and were now practically on top of one another. Suddenly the entire device went blank. Fiona shook it, not sure how else to make it work then smacked it several times to no avail. She looked up at Charlie and shrugged.

"Well you said you saw her in a department store, right? Macy's is closest," He suggested. Fiona nodded and they were once again weaving their way through the irritable crowd.

*~*~*~*

On the far side of the mall, someone else was also searching for the Christmas spirit. Despite being lost in their own worlds, people managed to give the brown trench coated man a wide berth, somehow sensing he was up to no good. If they had known his true identity they might have stayed even further away. He sat down on a bench closing his eyes, his head moved as if he was looking for something behind them. Green eyes flashed open and a smirk crossed his pointed features. He stood and quickly began cutting through the crowd.  
  
*~*~*~*

The department store was just as crowded as its surrounding mall. Fiona hurried over to a large kiosk displaying a map of the store. After quickly scanning it she turned back to the boys. "There are three floors so I think it makes sense to split up. Bernard, you take this one, Charlie you check the second and I'll hit the third. We'll all meet back here in half an hour." With a confirmative nod, they all took off for their respective floor.

Fiona's mind raced as she tried to travel up the escalator to the top most floor. She was tired and frustrated two traits the sprite didn't tend to or enjoy exhibiting. The failure of the tracking device worried her. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was feeding off magical energy perhaps the same thing that had chased Angelica here in the first place. If that were true than the sprite, the boy and the elf were all in potential danger. Then again, she could have just been extremely paranoid. Fiona shoved the thought to the back of her mind as she stepped off the escalator. The most important thing was finding Angelica and then getting her back to the Pole.

Fiona looked up from her thoughts only to see she'd landed smack in the middle of the stores toy department. She felt the urge to cry as she surveyed the scene before her. The area was packed with people mostly angry frantic adults pulling along screaming whining children. Frazzled employees attempted to soothe the customers, bending over backwards and running in circles. In the middle of the mayhem sat a fake-y Santa Claus with a line extending for days. Fiona strolled through the war zone casually, keeping an eye out for any sign of the Christmas spirit. If Angelica was in fact here, it was far from apparent. Maybe all that was what was making it so hard to find her.

Fiona quickly tried to regain her balance as she nearly tripped over a small child, receiving a harsh glare from his parent who had been completely negligent until that second. She grumbled under her breath knowing that more anger and frustration would only make this more difficult. Stepping away from the crowd as best she could, Fiona took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She silently cursed how little magic she had so late during the season. Each person had a different kind of magic; magic that could connect to other people and convey emotion. Had hers been at its full potential, Fiona could have easily reached out to the spirit. Ignoring this, she attempted to focus her mind and her magic, concentrating on Angelica and calling out to the her as best she could. There was silence, then suddenly a voice. "Hello?" it whispered timidly as if it had been yelling for days. Fiona tried to hold on to the call, but instead her eyes flew open and she began racing through the crowd. She mentally continued to call out to the voice not even sure it could hear her. Somehow her feet knew where to carry her, though her mind was focused elsewhere.

Fiona stopped suddenly almost tumbling forward with the suddenness. Before her was a plain unmarked door that blended almost seamlessly into the wall. No one else seemed to take heed of it, but as she stood there Fiona was nearly bowled over by the incredible magical force coming from the other side. It was a mixture of pure power and fear, an almost painful combination to any other magical creature in the vicinity. Fiona reached for the door knob but quickly drew her hand back in pain. Ice crystals clung to her burning palm. As they melted away, Fiona thought of Jack but knew the magic was different. She knew only one other person who could perform such feats. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the knob again ignoring her pain and pushing the door open. Once inside, Fiona took a deep breath and held her frozen hand close to her chest for warmth. The room was dimly lit and seemed to be a storage area for extra Christmas displays and decorations.

She carefully made her way past fake wreaths and trees, left over ribbons and large unmarked boxes "Angelica?" she asked as gently as possible. The magic that had been so harsh earlier had toned down considerably and had become almost curious. A feeble whimper caught the sprite's attention. Moving more quickly and rounding a large stack of boxes, Fiona finally came upon a small form curled up under a sparkling white blanket. The fleece covering must have been conjured by the spirit. "Angie?" Fiona tried again, crouching down.

Slowly a curly blonde head rose revealing a girl that looked seven years of age but who was truly centuries older. Her large blue eyes fell on Fiona and quickly filled with recognition. "Fiona?" The sprite hurried to the girl who jumped up and threw her arms around Fiona's neck. She held her close, gently stroking the Christmas spirit's hair, trying to calm her. "What are you doing here?"

Angelica sounded genuinely shocked, which made Fiona chuckle. "I came to find you."

"I'm so glad you're here. I'd almost given up," Angelica said. Her voice was quiet, almost raspy, its usual bell like quality missing entirely.

"Me too," the sprite said, picking up Angelica and heading out of the storage room. "Come on, let's go."

Angelica continued to cling to her. "Just be careful, Fi."

"Why?"

"Cause I think he's out there"

"Who's out there, sweetie?"

"Him." The fear in her voice was unmistakable and Fiona felt it better to drop the issue for now.

"We'll be fine," She reassured both of them as she quickly cut through the people. Fiona stepped on to the escalator still holding Angelica tightly. Looking at her watch she was relieved it had been long enough that the boys should be at the rendezvous spot. Making another expert dash through the crowd, Fiona spotted the map kiosk.

"Fi!" Bernard called when he saw her. His eyes went wide when he saw the girl in Fiona's arms. "You found her?"

Angelica looked up as the girls approached the map. Her entire face lit up when she saw the head elf. "Bernard!?" She reached out and was quickly pulled into a hug by Bernard. Fiona smiled as she released the spirit, happy to see Angelica smile. Bernard and Angelica were naturally close because of their connection to the same holiday. Fiona knew that was another part of why he was willing to go on the rescue mission.

"I'm so glad your okay," Bernard said.

Angelica pulled away from him slightly. "Where's your hat?"

Charlie and Fiona both tried not to laugh, as Bernard made a face. "Santa didn't let me take it."

"I hate to be rude," Charlie cut in. "But maybe we should get out of here."

"Not rude at all, we definitely need to go." Fiona agreed. Angelica nodded wildly, burying her face in Bernard's shoulder.

"Let's go," Bernard said, casting a worried glance at Fiona before they quickly took off from the department store.


	9. Boogie Men & Ice Skates

* * *

_You're in my arms_ _and all the world is calm_  
The music playing on for only two  
So close together  
And when I'm with you  
So close to feeling alive  
A life goes by romantic dreams will stop  
So I bid mine goodbye and never knew  
So close was waiting, waiting here with you  
And now forever I know  
All that I wanted to hold you so close

_So Close—Jon McLaughlin_

* * *

 

**** By 4pm, the rescue party was back at the Miller's house. The ride back was uneventful, comprised mostly of those involved lost in thought. The occasional Christmas tune wafted from the stereo and seemingly brightened the mood of the Christmas sprite in the back seat.

Once inside the house, Angelica reluctantly let go of Bernard and headed upstairs with Charlie to meet Lucy. Bernard hurried to call Santa and tell him the team's status. Pacing the kitchen, Fiona suddenly felt useless. She resorted to occupying herself by making hot cocoa from a recipe Judy had given her decades ago. As she finished up the drinks, Bernard came into the kitchen looking more frazzled than normal. "Santa says there's a huge storm hitting the Pole right now and he thinks it'll be better if we head out tomorrow instead."

"Okay." Fiona shrugged, not finding the situation nearly as horrible as Bernard did. "Then we'll leave tomorrow." She handed Bernard a mug and skillfully grabbed the others she'd prepared, leaving the kitchen.

Bernard looked at his mug for a moment before chasing after her. "But if something's after Angelica we'd be safer at the Pole."

"Doesn't sound like that's going to happen, B. Come on, we'll be fine. This'll give us a chance to find out what Angie knows and to try and get her feeling better before we head back." Fiona reasoned as she made her way up the stairs toward Lucy's bedroom. She motioned to Bernard to knock when they reached the door, unable to do so herself with full hands. With a quick knock, they entered the room to find Lucy and Angelica sitting on the floor engaged in a very important discussion about plush animals and Charlie on the couch watching over them with a mixture of intrigue and teenage boredom. Fiona passed out the mugs and hopped on to the bed next to Bernard, lying on her stomach with her feet in the air.

"What's going on?" Charlie asked once everyone was situated.

Bernard sighed. "Santa doesn't want us leaving until tomorrow night."

Fiona saw her segue. "So, we thought it might be a good time for us to talk to you Angelica about what's going on?"

Angelica looked at the sprite with her large blue eyes. Fiona noticed the blush and some of the sparkle was coming back to her cheeks. That was at least a good sign. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Bernard began, looking at Fiona for assurance, "You said someone was after you. Do you know who or what it was?"

There was a heavy silence as Angelica collected her thoughts, "I'm not entirely sure. I was just traveling, like I usually do this time of year. Then there started being these disturbances, I guess you could call them, in the magic near me. People being angrier than normal some of them more stressed out or mad." She paused again, finding it hard to continue the story of the past few weeks. "Then one day this man stopped me in the middle of the street. He… he said he knew who I was and that I needed to come with him. But there was something wrong; he was radiating that same weird energy. So, I ran, but he kept following me. I couldn't contact anyone; it was like he was canceling my powers or something. I couldn't run anymore so I hid in the department store and then you guys found me." Angelica's eyes were filled with an obscene amount of gratitude as she looked at the elf and sprite.

Fiona and Bernard looked at each other at the same time. "A Boogie," they said at the same time, then groaned at one another's confirmation.

"I thought the council kept track of them, regulated when they got out." Bernard said, confusing everyone but Fiona even further.

She shook her head, "They're supposed to. Maybe he got through the system somehow. I so didn't sign up for a boogie!" she groaned slamming her head into the bedspread.

Wait, what's a Boogie? Like the Boogie Man?" Charlie asked, finally getting the two mythical creature's attention.

Bernard nodded. "That's the basic concept."

"But the Boogie Man's not real," Charlie tried to rationalize, "He's just a story parents make up to make kids behave."

"So says the son of Santa Claus," Bernard replied cynically.

"He has a point Charlie," Fiona said, more understanding then her partner. "You should know better than anyone that all of those 'stories' have some basis in truth. I mean, there's some version of most of them all over the world, they had to come from somewhere."

"The point is the Boogie Man is real, he takes many shapes. One of those is a creature that steals magical powers. And it looks like he's after Angelica," Bernard sighed.

There was silence again. "So, what are we going to do?" Charlie asked.

"We're going to go back to the Pole as soon as we can," Bernard said.

"I think he meant in the meantime," Fiona pointed out. "I think we should find something fun to do." The other's looked at her as if she'd said something completely unreasonable. "We're all stressed out and Angelica needs some good cheer right about now."

"I know!" Lucy, who had been uncharacteristically silent, declared. She hurried over to Charlie and whispered something in his ear.

Charlie smiled but looked over at Fiona apprehensively. "She has a good idea, but it would mean going out."

Fiona ignored the pointed look Bernard instantly shot her. "Well, if it's a good idea, then let's go." With that the group quickly left the house and piled back into the car.

*~*~*~*~*

  
Minutes before they reached the undisclosed location, Lucy's idea became apparent. About ten miles off the main highway, in a very secluded area was a small lake covered in a thick layer of ice. Charlie parked the car and dug two pairs of skates out of the back of the car, handing one to Lucy. Angelica used her magic and quickly made her own pair and the three hurried out onto the lake.

Fiona brushed snow off a nearby log and took a seat near the edge of the pond. She smiled despite the chill running up her spine and pulled her dark green jacket closer to her. Watching Charlie and the girls skating and playing on the ice, she found herself longing to join them. Risking it wasn't the smartest idea though especially with that cold, cold ice. Fiona looked away from the pond for a moment and saw Bernard making his way toward her. His hands were behind his back and a small smirk graced his face. "Don't tell me you're just going to sit there."

She looked down to see there were skates on his feet. "Oh, Mr. Responsible, using his magic to make ice skates for himself. What is this world coming to?"

Bernard feigned hurt. "Fine then, I won't give you these." From behind his back he pulled out a pair of snow white skates with sea green laces.

Fiona couldn't help but smile as she took the skates from him. "My bad behavior is so rubbing off on you. By the way," she said pulling something from her jacket pocket and tossing it at him. "That's for you."

Bernard looked at her for a moment and then at the piece of cloth in his hand. He shook it out staring at it in astonishment as he realized what it was. "How? Where did you get this?"

Fiona continued lacing up her skates, happy with his reaction, "I got it at the first mall we went to, then you started being a jerk so I wasn't sure you deserved it."

"Thank you," Bernard said, placing the hat on his head; a perfect match for the beret he had left at home. Fiona smiled at him amazed at how much happier and normal he looked. She said nothing, as Bernard offered her a hand which she accepted.

The two made their way to the ice and with one timid step onto the surface, Fiona lost her balance and quickly found herself lying on her back her eyes on the light blue winter sky. She cursed her lack of practice with such activities as Bernard attempted to help her up, but lost his footing as well, landing hard on his side.

After scrambling to her feet on her own accord, Fiona skated around the pond several times finally feeling comfortable. She skated alongside Lucy and Angelica engaging the two in an impromptu race. Angelica was easily the most agile on the ice, skating circles around Lucy and Fiona and giggling happily. Fiona was excited to see the spirit having more fun than she probably had had in a month.

As they neared the final lap, Bernard cut in front of Fiona causing her to spin and nearly eat ice again. Fiona glared at him but was secretly proud she hadn't fallen. "So, what's your excuse for falling with me earlier?" she asked as they continued skating. "This is your seasonal activity, you're suppose to be better than me at it."

"Who says I'm not?" He asked, showing off and skating on one foot. Fiona resisted the urge to push him over into a nearby snow bank. "Honestly, I don't get much chance for fun like this, head elf duties and all that."

It was true, Fiona realized she'd never seen him at the rink in Elfsburg or engaged in a game of tinsel football. He was always about Christmas, or preparing for Christmas or cleaning up after Christmas. The closest she'd seen him come to having fun during the holidays was when she made him come to karaoke night at the Elfsburg café or when she'd barged in on his work and demanded he stop what he was doing and talk with her or raid the kitchen for cookies.

Once again getting lost too deeply in her thoughts, Fiona didn't realize she was coming to the end of the pond. As she snapped from her trance, Bernard grabbed her arm, swinging her around and away from the edge. He placed an arm around her to steady her as she grabbed the front of his jacket. Fiona's breath caught in her throat as she looked up at Bernard. She realized a thin layer of snow was beginning to fall as their eyes locked. "I…" Before Fiona could say anything more they heard Charlie's voice.

"Guys, we should get going. It's starting to snow." Fiona pulled away from Bernard, started to speak again and thought better of it. She shivered, suddenly realizing just how cold she really was. With no hesitation, Bernard placed his jacket over her shoulders and his arm around her. She gave him a small smile and they silently made their way back toward the car.

Only a few miles away from the house, Lucy turned to Fiona with confusion on her face. "Fiona, are you okay?"

Besides being lost in her head for the twentieth time that minute Fiona knew why the girl gave her that look. She couldn't stop shivering and couldn't feel warm despite her three layers of clothing and Bernard's coat. She had known better than to go out into the cold, it was why she didn't stay in the human world during the winter. The fun had taken her mind off of the ever present issue. Had she been exposed long enough she would have been in far worse trouble. Wondering if she was turning an unhealthy shade of Jack Frost blue, she shook her head. "I'm fine," she managed to say through chattering teeth.

Bernard had turned around in his seat at the commotion. The worry on his face, confirmed Fiona's fear. She watched as his take charge, head elf, instincts kicked in, "Lucy, Angie, sit as close to Fiona as you possible. Charlie, turn up the heat and drive as quickly and safely as you can!"

Fiona took a deep shaky breath and mouthed the words, "thank you" as the car sped down the highway back to the Miller's.


	10. Coversations & Trouble

* * *

_So He Said Would It Be All Right If We Just Sat and Talked For a Little While_   
_If in Exchange For Your Time I Give You This Smile_   
_So She Said That's Okay as Long as You Can Make a Promise_   
_Not to Break My Little Heart and Leave Me All Alone in the Summer_   
_All Was Golden in the Sky_   
_All Was Golden When the Day Met the Night_

When the Day Met the Night ~ Panic at the Disco

* * *

 

Several hours later, after night had fallen, Fiona found herself staring out through the living room window and into the winter twilight. Now in her pajamas and curled up in a thick fleece blanket she was far warmer than before. Things had calmed down considerably in the short amount of time. The living room was quieter, only the sounds of the ticking wall clock and the last crackles of the slowly dying fire permeating the silence. While everyone else had gone off to bed, here Fiona sat, unable to quiet her mind. The evening's events replayed in her mind in a jagged, yet, continuous loop.

The drive to the house was a blur. Fiona hadn't realized how bad she had truly gotten until she began struggling to hold on to consciousness. She didn't remember the car stopping but both girls jumped out and Bernard was quickly at her side.

"Do you think you can get up?" Fiona looked up at him, teeth still chattering involuntarily. The action must have been a sign he understood because he picked her up, with little effort, and hurried toward the front door. The house was a flurry of activity all in preparation for the frozen sprite. Charlie grabbed every blanket he could find. Angelica stood by the fireplace and held her hands in front of it, causing a warm roaring fire to spring to life. Lucy grabbed pillows from the couch and placed them in front of the fire as seats. Had she not been half frozen, Fiona would have marveled at their haste and concern and the ever-present authority and efficiency of her head elf best friend. As it was, she was hardly able to focus on anything except the frigid icy sensation enveloping her body.

Bernard hurried over to the fireplace and knelt down on the pillows, still holding Fiona close, hoping to offer any warmth he possibly could to her. Fiona's muscles ached as she reluctantly released her hold on Bernard's neck and was quickly surrounded by the blankets Charlie had managed to procure.

Unsure of when she had arrived on the scene, Fiona looked up to see Laura next to her relating what she knew of hypothermia to Bernard while he tried patiently to explain that this was similar but at the same time nothing like that. As Fiona continued to shiver Bernard's arms were soon back around her. Fiona leaned close to his chest clinging to the warmth he supplied and trying not to steal his magic in the process.

Slowly, the frozen feeling began to subside. Fiona stopped violently shivering, she could feel her fingers and toes again, and she could move without frozen pain shooting through her body. As the evening wore one, Fiona felt even better. Laura had helped her get up and to change into warmer cloths. Eventually, between sleeping, eating warm soup and playing games with Angelica and Lucy, the cold subsided completely and Fiona's normal color gradually returned.

Now she sat in the living rooms hours away and wishing she hadn't slept so much. She had done every practical thing she could think of to take her mind off of her endless thoughts. Having surfed through every channel of horrid late-night television and having read the few magazines on the coffee table, she had even resorted to calling Jack Frost for reasons she didn't completely understand. After relating the story of the day to him, he seemed genuinely concerned in his usual excessive way. He had apologized for the snow claiming an unexpected seasonal shift was to blame. He had also made sure to point out that, had he been the one to accompany her, he would have never let something like this happen to her. The thought was sweet but not really what Fiona wanted to hear. She wanted to be safe, she wanted to get back to the Pole and she wanted things to go back to normal. Somehow, she knew it wouldn't be that easy. Finding little solace in the conversation with Jack, she had resorted to simply staring out at the falling snow.

The clock struck one am and Fiona was still more awake than she should have been at such an hour. So awake that she felt a presence on the stairs before she even saw anyone descend them. She looked up watching as the anonymous legs and torso finally gave way to a face she recognized. It surprised her to see Bernard considering it felt like no time at all since he had left her in the living room. He couldn't see her, she could tell, because of the virtual lack of light in the living room. Fiona shifted causing the couch to groan and the curtains to sway slightly. The elf, who had reached the bottom of the stairs and apparently been in his own world too, looked startled. "I didn't think you'd be awake," he said.

"Couldn't sleep," she confessed, stretching her arms over her head as he made his way toward her makeshift couch bed.

"That's very unlike you," he said as he sat down at her feet. Fiona had to laugh at his insight. Generally, she did sleep more than others and quite heavily. It was out of character for her to be so awake after such a long day. "You sure you're all right?"

Fiona shrugged receiving a look that told her he was far from assured. "B, I've told you I'm fine."

"Are you really fine or are you that Fiona 'I'm not fine but I'd never tell you so drop it' kind of fine?"

"If I'm the latter of those wouldn't it make more sense to just drop it and save yourself the trouble?" she asked.

"Touché," Bernard said, turning his eyes toward the window that had been occupying Fiona's attention until his arrival.

Fiona took a deep breath. "Look, I know you won't believe me, but I really am fine." It was a partial truth and she could live with telling him it. She turned back to the comfort of the winter landscape as he looked away from it. The snow continued to fall and glisten in ways that inspired holiday songs.

"I believe you," he said simply. It was a response Fiona hadn't quite expected or fully believed. There was silence, both parties resigned to their respective thoughts. After a few minutes that felt much longer, Bernard spoke again, "You win your staring contest yet."

Fiona smirked, not taking her eyes away from the window. "It just kind of amazes me how much I love this stuff," she sighed, indicating the fallen snow. "Especially considering what it does to me."

"No one ever accused you of being logical, Fi," Bernard teased. Fiona playfully swung at him barely making contact with his shoulder as he dodged her attack.

"It's true though," she admitted suddenly. "I mean, if I was logical I wouldn't have caused that whole mess today… Heck, if I was logical we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place."

Bernard looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well you'd think after 2000 plus years of existing I'd know when I was going to try to freeze myself to death. I mean it's not like it's something new I've never experienced before. I should have been more careful"

"I shouldn't have made you come skating with us," Bernard said guiltily.

Deep down, a part of her hurt knowing he blamed himself for the evenings events. "No, that's the point. I mean, like I said, you didn't know. I did and I ignored my instincts."

"Well what about that other part? About the situation?"

"That? I'm the one that sent us on this rescue mission during a time when I have so little magic."

"You did it because you cared about Angelica. Because you wanted to make sure she was safe and that nothing happened to her," Bernard shrugged. "I know you Fiona. You were upset that no one was willing to go help her and you reacted impulsively."

"I guess so," she said, looking down and trying to push back her reemerging thoughts.

"Can I ask you something though?"

"What's that?" Fiona asked looking back up at him

"Was there any other reason you did all this?"

Fiona sighed, amazed she could still conjure a half smile for him, "All honesty?" Bernard nodded. "You're right, about the gut instinct thing. But other than that, I think I might have wanted some recognition"

Bernard's eyebrow furrowed. "Really?"

"Well yeah, I mean, you know as well as I do that seasons aren't nearly as highly regarded as holidays or the other figures. Don't get me wrong, they all treat me well but I'm basically like the backstage crew for the big holiday production. Jack's an exception, he's made a name for himself. I say I don't care and that I don't want the spotlight. Honestly, I love the anonymity during the busy season. But it'd be nice to have some praise for once. To feel accepted, you know?"

Bernard looked at her sympathetically. His face told her he had had no idea she had felt that way. Fiona realized she had never let any one know the simple fact that she felt perpetually under appreciated. She knew it was selfish and she knew it was probably dumb. When it came down to it she had little room to complain compared to other creatures that never even made it to the Legendary Figures Council table. Apparently, though, she couldn't help it and the relief of the weight of finally telling someone else made it easier to breath. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have burdened you with all that."

"Let me get one thing straight," Bernard finally said. "You risked both our necks for pride?"

Fiona couldn't help but smile despite wanting to smack him again. "Yeah, pretty much. My bad."

The elf smiled as well, "Don't be! I think it's actually a very realistic reason."

"What?!" Fiona feigned shock. "You're telling me that going after Angie simply out of the goodness of my heart wasn't realistic. Being vengeful toward the Council for ignoring me and then her made more sense?"

"Yes, but if it makes you feel better you can pretend you're saintly."

"Don't you judge me!"

"I wouldn't dream of it."

Fiona laughed, "Okay fine. But can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Why are you awake right now? I mean, this is the first time in forever you haven't had to be up in the middle of December making sure toys are being made correctly and you're out here shooting the breeze with me…"

Bernard looked at her guiltily. "I might have heard the TV down here and wanted to make sure you were okay."

Stifling a groan, Fiona resorted to leaning over onto his shoulder. "Bernard, you really don't have to worry about me. You worry about so many other people and procedures and schedules and whatever. I don't want you wasting energy over me."

Though she couldn't see his face she knew Bernard was using the silence to try to phrase his words just right. She wasn't sure if that scared her. "I can't help it, especially when it comes to you, Fi. You never let anyone worry about you and, as a natural worrier, that makes me even more concerned."

Fiona bit her tongue. This was not the conversation she had wanted to start. This was not the time or the place to talk about anything like this. She didn't have the energy or the will power to deal with the places this conversation could potentially go. At the same time, she wondered if her lack of sleep was causing her to simply read too much into his words. Because of that, she resigned to simply saying, "Thank you."

"No problem," he said. They sat in silence for a while longer before Fiona began to feel the tug of all too necessary sleep at the back of her mind. She yawned as she pulled away from Bernard. "I'm going to let you go to sleep," he said noticing the hint and standing from the couch. "I'm not about to deal with you being all grumpy in the morning and complaining about how I kept you up all night."

Fiona laughed, though she knew his earlier words were bound to keep her up at least a while longer. "In that case, I'll have to find something else to complain about tomorrow."

"I don't doubt you will"

"Goodnight, B," She said, curing up further into her blanket.

"Night, Fiona," Bernard said, heading over to the stairs and quickly retreating out of view.

Once she was sure he was gone, Fiona let out a deep sigh she'd been holding on to longer than she could remember. As she attempted to fall back asleep all Fiona could dwell on was the reoccurring idea that normalcy was apparently out of the question no matter how much she wanted to attain it.

*~*~*~*

The following day turned out to be rather uneventful. Everyone slept in late, still worn out from the adventures of the previous day. Movies were watched, games were played and food was consumed, all in an effort to waste time until the North Pole departure. As the first colors of twilight began to overtake the mortal world, Bernard, Fiona, Angie and the Millers made their way into the backyard to the waiting sleigh and reindeer.

Due to the rush in departure from the North Pole, someone had overlooked the fact that when Fiona and Bernard accomplished their mission they'd be traveling with three passengers in the sleigh instead of two. As it was there had barely been enough room for the original two. The plan, however, was simple: Bernard would transport himself back to the Pole, since he was the one with the most magic and while Fiona and Angelica would take the sleigh. Despite the seemingly foolproof nature, Bernard, as the self proclaimed 'natural worrier', was doing what he did best. He stressed to Fiona more times than she could count that he would maintain radio contact with them the whole time and to be careful and not to let Comet get distracted. Fiona tried to listen politely and not roll her eyes as hard as she wanted to. If he asked her one more time if she was okay after the scare yesterday, she might just strangle him. She knew he meant well and that he was just looking out for her and Angelica, but she was nearing the point where it was too much.

"Are you sure you have everything you need?" Laura asked as Fiona grabbed her duffle bag and tossed it into the sleigh.

Fiona knew, Laura too meant well, but after dealing with Bernard all day she was beginning to think no one thought she had the ability to fly a sleigh. "We're fine," she said sweetly. "Thank you so much for letting us crash here!"

Laura pulled her into a warm hug. "It was no trouble at all. You should really stop by if you pass through during your season."

"I most definitely will," Fiona said. She said goodbye to Neil, told Charlie she would see him when he came to the Pole on Christmas Eve and promised Lucy, like she had Laura, that she would stop by sometime in the spring to visit. Fiona hurried over to the sleigh where Bernard stood, helping Angelica get situated in her seat. The girl looked comfortable and content, wrapped in a warm blanket and ready to get back to the Pole.

Before Fiona could say anything, Bernard pulled her away from the sleigh, "You sure you'll be okay?"

"For the zillionth time, B, yes! I know how to fly a reindeer and even then, the radio will let you know if anything goes wrong… which it won't!"

Bernard looked away. "Sometimes I wish I had even half of your confidence."

"Bernard," she said taking his arms lightly and making him look her directly in the eyes. "I promise you everything is going to be completely fine!" She kissed him lightly on the cheek and took off toward the driver's side.

"Ready to go, Angie?" Fiona asked the spirit as she scrambled up onto the bench and grabbed Comet's reins.

Angelica nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be."

"That's what I like to hear," Fiona said, shaking the reins to let the reindeer know it was time to go. He perked up immediately and began trotting until his feet no longer touched the ground and the sleigh and its passengers were on their way home.

*~*~*~*

Back at the North Pole, things were busy as always. Santa sat at his desk, slowly perusing the naughty-nice list for what would be the second contractual time. He had just started pondering why this year there seemed to be more naughty children than usual when, in a flash of light, his head elf suddenly fell out of thin air and on to the carpeted floor with a resounding thud.

Bernard slowly picked himself up as his boss hurried to assist him. "Are you alright Bernard?"

"Apparently, I'm out of practice," Bernard mumbled sheepishly as he dusted off his black overcoat.

Santa smiled. "Are the girls on their way?"

"Yes, Santa, I just left them."

Santa nodded, having been debriefed on the plan. He headed over to the ancient looking radio by his desk and turned a black dial back and forth until a signal came in. Motioning to Bernard, Santa handed the elf a silver microphone with a large cord connected to the radio. Bernard took it and tentatively said, "Fiona…"

The radio crackled and popped for a moment before a distinctive voice cut through the noise. "I see you made it back in one piece, Bernard." It teased.

Bernard smiled. "Well I am missing a leg now, but I figure that will eventually rematerialize somewhere."

The laughter of both Fiona and Angelica filled the box and Santa and Bernard gave each other relived looks. Before Bernard could say anything more, the door to Santa's office sprung open startling both men.

"Hope I'm not interrupting," came the ice-cold voice of Jack Frost who stood in the doorway.

"Actually, you are…" Bernard snapped but was cut short.

"Ooohh, is that Fiona?" Jack asked hurrying to grab the microphone from the elf's hand. "Let me talk to her!"

"No!" Bernard realized how immature he sounded, but he had promised Fiona he'd make sure she was okay. He didn't need Jack in the way.

"Come on Bernie. Just real quick!" the sprite pleaded. Bernard looked to Santa hoping for support. The large man simply shrugged.

"What's going on over there?" Fiona asked.

"Bernard won't let me talk to you," Jack yelled toward the mic.

With a heavy sigh, Bernard handed the instrument to Jack. Jack seized his opportunity quite literally and began babbling at a hundred miles a minute to Fiona.

Trying not to let his anger overtake him completely, Bernard silently began grinding his teeth and counting backwards from one hundred. Santa, sensing his number one's anger, put a reassuring hand on his shoulder; a silent indication that he'd take care of the situation.

"Jack," Santa said, interrupting whatever Jack had been going on about to Fiona. Jack looked at him, a slight glare on his face. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Hold on a sec, Fi," He said to the girl on the other end before reluctantly handing her back over to Bernard. "What's up big guy?"

"Here's the deal. I need you to let Bernard be in charge of the North Pole to sleigh radio contact. He's the one the Council picked and he knows more than you or I do about the situation at hand."

Jack looked at Santa coolly. "Well we've seen what a great job he's been doing protecting her so far."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Bernard glared at Jack, hoping to melt his face.

Jack smirked. "From what I hear, you nearly got Fiona killed last night."

Bernard opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. He didn't know how Jack knew about the incident the other night but he couldn't tell him he was wrong.

Santa looked thoroughly confused, having no knowledge of the event. "Look, Jack, just do me a favor this once. You can talk Fi's ear off as much as you want the second she gets back."

"Well," Jack finally relented, "I'm at least staying here until she touches down."

"You are more than welcome to stay. Grab a chair and make yourself comfortable." Santa smiled, having learned long ago that having Jack in his line of sight made the chances of the nymph causing mischief less likely.

*~*~*~*

Up in the sky, Fiona couldn't help but laugh at the trademark squabbling of her friends. The confused looks she kept getting from Angelica made the whole thing even funnier. "Are they always this weird?" the spirit asked.

Fiona smiled, "You have absolutely no idea." She turned her attention back to the radio that had suddenly gone very silent "You guys done fighting over there?"

There was more silence; then Bernard's voice, "Fiona, can you repeat that? You cut out."

Fiona's stomach dropped. Magical radio signals didn't cut out unless there was another force disrupting them. She tried not to automatically think the worst. "I said, are you guys done fighting?"

The response was garbled and as Fiona strained to listen to it she felt Angelica grab her arm tightly. She knew they both felt it; a sickening feeling of absolute dread that seemed to blanket the sleigh. Fiona swallowed hard, allowing herself to anticipating the worst.

As if some cruel deity had read her mind the sleigh was hit by something Fiona never saw. The wood splintered underneath them and the spring sprite and the Christmas spirit were sent flying into the cold November air. Fiona lost sight of Comet but as gravity kicked in and she began to fall quickly and steadily through the sky she frantically looked for Angelica. She spotted the girl and grabbed hold of her, unsure of what could possibly save them. Mentally, she again cursed her lack of magic. Had she had any of it she could have sprouted wings or conjured something to at least soften their landing. The deadness of winter and the recent traumatic freeze left her to do little more than create small flowers that would never be able to save them. The ground was rushing to meet them, cold and hard. With little more thought, Fiona pulled Angelica close to her chest and positioned herself to be the closest to the ground upon impact. The ground came at her faster than she expected and the two landed with bone crushing force. As pain shot through Fiona's entire being her vision went from fuzzy to black in an instance.

"Fiona!" What she only guessed had been moments later, Fiona awoke to a pale and panicked looking Angelica standing over her. Tears streaked down the girl's face though her eyes filled with relief at the sprite's consciousness. "Fi!" As Fiona attempted to push herself up onto her elbows, Angelica threw her arms around her. Fiona tried not to noticeably wince or cry out in pain. She was amazed her back was not broken and that bruises seemed to be the worst of her injuries; immortality had its perks. Angelica released her hold but stayed close to Fiona as she slowly and cautiously got to her feet.

Ignoring her pain, she surveyed the landing site. The ground and trees were not only blanketed in the freshly fallen snow from the previous night but now with shards of what had once been Fiona and Angelica's sleigh. A few feet away, the reins hung loosely over a stump. Comet was still tethered to them. Limping slightly, Fiona held Angelica's hand and the two made their way toward the reindeer. He seemed relieved to see them both as they quickly released him from his bonds. Fiona leaned against his flank for support as she calculated the best move. She knew Bernard, and probably Jack too, had to be freaking out right about now.

That was when she first saw him.

At first, she thought he was just a shadow; the light playing tricks on her.

But then he started moving closer.

Angelica tensed, burying herself in Fiona's coat. "It's him…" the girl whispered.

Fiona swallowed thickly, there was no time to lose. She spun around to Angelica and quickly pushed her up on to Comet's back. "You're going to be fine." She tried to reassure both herself and the spirit. Angelica seemed too shell-shocked to process what was happening. She then addressed the reindeer, "Do you know how to get back to Charlie's?" Comet nodded. "Then go, now! Get her out of here!"

With another nod, Comet took off running through the forest. The man that had been slowly advancing toward them was suddenly right beside Fiona. He was dressed in all black from his hat to his trench coat to his boots. His magic was dark, so rotten she could taste it.

"Now why would you go and do a thing like that?" He asked her far more calmly than she expected. His accent was British and his words were cold in a way not even Jack could attain. "I mean, it wasn't a very smart thing to do at all."

"Who are you?" Fiona wasn't sure where her voice managed to come from.

He looked down at Fiona as if noticing her for the first time. Her gaze was instantly locked within the sickly green eyes beneath his fedora. They burned with power and a lust for more of it. "And you. Are you really what the council sent to try and stop me? They obviously don't respect me or see me as a threat. Tell me girl, did they really think you'd be able to stop me." He grabbed Fiona's arm pulling her close to him.

Both the man and Fiona flinched causing him to let go of her arm and send her falling back into the snow. "Or maybe…" he said, thoughtfully, rubbing his hands together. "You're not quite as ordinary as you look. Maybe you'll do just fine in her place."

Before she could react, the man reached down and grabbed Fiona by the neck, pulling her up to her feet. The bare skin of his hand against the skin of her neck burned hotter than anything she had ever felt. His grasp was not tight, but all the same, Fiona felt like her throat was closing. Her breathing was heavy and her vision began to blur. "A sprite, eh?" she could barely hear him say. "And not even one of this season." The information had come with the magic.

If he had said anything more after that, Fiona had not heard him. Her ears began ringing too loudly for her to make anything else out. Finally, blackness encompassed the entirety of her vision leaving her in a void of nothingness.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've kept most of my comments to myself cause I tend to ramble in author's notes, but this is still one of my favorite chapters :P


	11. Prisons & Messages

* * *

_All of these lines across my face_   
_Tell you the story of who I am_   
_So many stories of where I've been_   
_And how I got to where I am_   
_But these stories don't mean anything_   
_When you've got no one to tell them to_   
_It's true, I was made for you_

The Story – Brandi Carlile

* * *

 

Comet sped down the quiet winter streets as quickly as he could. Though he could of course fly, he didn't like the idea of being shot down again and running seemed like a good alternative. Luckily, it was close enough to Christmas and late enough at night that no one questioned a reindeer galloping down the street with the spirit of the season on his back. The girl's grip on his neck was strong and the physical feel of her freight was almost overwhelming.

The driving thought in the reindeer's head was Charlie. If Comet could find Charlie and make sure Angelica was safe with him then he could go back and save Fiona. That weird man had had some bad magic and leaving her with him was the last thing Comet had wanted to do. At the time, though, the look in Fiona's eyes hadn't given him a chance to argue.

Sooner than he expected, Comet was back at the Miller's doorstep. There was no time to waste. The doorbell was all together inoperable with hooves so he headed straight to the front door and kicked at it strong enough to be heard but not to break it off the hinges. Comet continued scratching at the wood, hoping that any damage he caused would be forgiven in light of the circumstances.

Finally, the door opened revealing a thoroughly confused and tired looking Charlie. "Comet?" he asked, but before he could continue the reindeer turned around revealing what looked like a large white spot on his back. The spot, that was actually Angelica, looked up when she heard Charlie's voice, her face filled with fear. Charlie's own face paled. "What happened, Angie?"

The Christmas spirit sprung from the reindeer's back and into Charlie's arms. She began sobbing, burying her face in his shoulder. "He got her," she choked out. "He got Fiona!"

"Who got her?"

Charlie jumped at the voice that had come from behind him. He held Angelica closer and turned toward the source. At the base of the stairs was Bernard followed by a man in a blue and silver suit who Charlie didn't recognize. Bernard's face was all business though his eyes, fixed on Angelica, held the slightest hint of fear.

Angelica looked up and started rambling and crying at the same time. "Bernard… I, I couldn't do anything. I don't know what happened and I tried but she's still with him."

"Who has her?" The man Charlie didn't recognize asked. "Who has Fiona?"

"The boogey man!"

Bernard and the man exchanged worried looks that unnerved Charlie more than the chill that had run down his spine when Angelica named her tormentor. A second later Bernard headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" the blue suited man asked.

"I'm taking Comet and I'm finding Fiona"

"Not without me you're not!"

"Look, Jack, it'll be easier if I go on my own. You'll just get in the way."

"You don't get to give the orders here, Bernard. You already lost her once. I'm not letting you screw something else up." Jack's words were so cold that, though invisible, they hung thickly in the air.

Bernard took a deep breath, repressing the urge to simply deck Jack and be done with him. There wasn't time for fighting, there wasn't time to argue, he had to find Fiona, he had to fix this. "Charlie, call your dad and see if he knows any ways to defeat a bogey." Bernard turned his attention back to Jack. "You can come… if you can keep up."

With that Bernard jumped on Comet's back. The reindeer automatically took off back toward the park where he had left Fiona. Jack grumbled before speeding on self created ice in the wake of the elf and reindeer.

Charlie watched until they had completely disappeared from his line of sight. Still holding Angelica close, he closed the door and grabbed his cell phone hoping that someone knew how to defeat the bogey man. Something told him it wouldn't be as simple as hiding under the covers like he had done as a child.

*~*~*~*

When Fiona came to again, she prayed the last few days had only been a dream. She desperately hoped she would find herself lying in her bed at the North Pole never having stupidly agreed to take on the council's mission. She wanted Angie to be safe and she wanted to be able to turn her concentration back to her plants. Her poor neglected plants. Instead, she opened her eyes and repressed an urge to groan. She was, sadly, no where near home.

Fiona wasn't sure where she really was. The room was small and the only piece of furniture in it was the lumpy blue couch she currently resided on. Sitting up slowly, Fiona's head began throbbing as a strange buzzing sensation over took her whole body making it hard to move. "I see you're finally awake, Fiona." Fiona froze, the words chilling her deeper than anything she had ever felt. It was painful to hear him say her name, as if by merely mentioning it he had disgraced any honor it possessed. She looked up defiantly, meeting his steely gaze. In the doorway stood the boogie man, looking just as nonchalant as Fiona had left him. He leaned lazily against the door frame, clothed in black from head to toe, his skin a sickly almost gray color and his blonde hair falling loose and scruffy around his face "How are you feeling, dear?"

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Are you serious?"

What Fiona could only describe as a twisted kind of mirth filled the man's face. "Quite serious."

"I'm fine."

"Well that's excellent news." He stood up straight and walked across the room toward Fiona. She resisted the urge to shrink back into the couch and away from him. He paused for a moment as if waiting for her to continue the pointless conversation. When no reply came, he slapped his hand to his forehead. "How rude of me. I know all about you and here you know nothing of me."

Fiona didn't feel any strong desire to get to know him on a more personal level. She just wanted to leave, but another glance at his deadly gray skin and she thought better of fleeing. "No, I don't."

"Well, my dear, my name is Terrance and I am a…" he paused choosing his words carefully, "...A purveyor of fine magic."

"You mean a boogie man"

"More colloquially, yes, but you, my little spring sprite, should know things aren't always as they seem and many creatures are simply… misunderstood."

"Some are," she agreed. "Others think they are superior to the rest and choose not to act with any sense of decorum or right and wrong."

"Who's to say one way is right and the other not? You've no doubt heard of survival of the fittest. I am that personified."

Fiona felt the anger growing slowly within her. His ego was far larger than she had realized, though it wasn't out of character for a boogie man. Boogie's were notorious for thinking their power gave them the right to take what they wanted. "What does this matter anyway?" she replied. "Just finish me off and stop toying with me." She shifted her glare to his hands hoping they didn't immediately lunge at her in rage.

Terrance, instead, innocently raised his hand to eye level scrutinizing them carefully as if he had forgotten they had to power to drain magic in second. As instantly as it had left, the evil glint in his eyes returned when he looked back up at Fiona. "Darling, if I had wanted you gone, I would have done it much earlier. No, you are of no use to me with no power."

"Well, unless you need some gardening advice, I don't know how I can help you."

He shook his head, a thin smile crossing his lips. "Silly girl. You don't even know do you?" His condescending tone made her want to punch him in the face regardless of the consequences of skin to skin contact. "Your magic is some of the most unique I have ever encountered."

"What do you mean?" Fiona had never considered herself all that unique, especially when it came to magical abilities. There was nothing incredibly special about growing flowers and trees at will. A large population of fairies could do exactly the same thing. Sure, Fiona had been given the task of bringing about spring, but that had been luck more than outshining her peers. She knew her face had betrayed her thoughts because the corners of Terrance's lips curled into a larger smile.

"Your magic is highly adaptable," he continued to explain as any good villain would. "Because you only have it part of the year, it is far easier for it to bond and intermingle with every other magic you encounter. With just the taste I had of it, I could feel everyone you've come in contact with including the entire Council of Legendary Figures."

"That's all well and good," Fiona said, glad her voice had held study. "But how does that help you."

He chuckled again, a truly skin crawling sound. "You said it yourself, dear, I take powers. It's much better when those powers can work well together." Terrance paced back toward the doorway. "On top of that, I'm quite sure someone will be coming for you soon. Maybe that winter nymph…Frost? You've got some of his magic. There also seems to be a lot of magic from an elf…"

Fiona ignored his last few remarks. He was trying to crack her, trying to show he knew more about her than he should, and trying to scare her into thinking he would go after her friends. It was all working spectacularly well but she refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing. "So I'm bait?"

His serpentine smile reappeared. "You do like to simplify things, don't you? Why don't you come with me?"

Fiona didn't see any real choice. The only way out of the room was through the door and with Terrance in the way she figured she could make it all of three feet before he grabbed her and knocked her out again. She stood up slowly, ignoring the dizzy feeling associated with her last lose of magic, and followed him out of the room down a long low-lit hallway. The entire building was silent aside from the quiet hum of industrial lighting and the click of Terrance's boots on the wooden floors.

He soon stopped outside of another room. In the entrance were metal bars where a door should have been. Terrance touched the lock and it sprung open. He motioned to Fiona to enter. Head held high, the sprite walked into the room sure that what ever lay waiting in the darkened cell was better than being in the boogie man's presence any longer. Once she was inside, he closed the door with a resounding clang. "I trust you'll be fine in here," he said as he walked away.

Fiona sighed heavier than she had in all of her long life. Saving Angelica had sounded like such a good idea at the time. She sat on the ground, leaning hard again the cold cement wall and pulling her knees up to her chin. Terrance hadn't taken all of her power, but the bit he had left her feeling tired and cold. It wasn't bad enough that she had been nearly frozen only a day earlier, if he continued taking her magic she might not be able to recover. She wished she had Bernard there or at least his jacket. Fiona was sure he was going crazy and had probably completely freaked out the second the radio had gone dead. If Terrance was using her as bait though, she didn't want him trying to find her. Before her thoughts could completely run away from her, a noise caught her attention. Fiona looked up into the darker corner of the room and saw a pair of bright green eyes staring back at her.

"Are you alright, dear?" a raspy voice asked.

Fiona nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

The speaker moved closer to Fiona, letting the light from the cell's only window fall on her. She was a dark gray wolf, lean and lanky, head tilted at Fiona in confusion. "You look quite pale."

"Maybe because she's got a talking wolf jabberin' at her!" Someone else, with a thick Irish accent, said.

Next to the wolf, a very short man dressed in all green appeared. Fiona knew immediately he was a leprechaun, one that was very far from home.

"No, it's not that," Fiona admitted though she couldn't suppress a shiver. "I'm just freezing."

"Make yourself useful," the wolf said to the leprechaun. "And grab that blanket."

The leprechaun glowered at her, but hurried off coming back a second later with a light blue piece of fabric. He handed it to Fiona who pulled it close around her. "Thank you."

He nodded. "I'm Darby and that's Dakota," he said indicating the wolf. As he spoke two more creatures came forward. "The groundhogs over there are Chuck and Phil."

"She looks familiar," one of the groundhogs, Chuck, said. "I mean it's hard to tell humans apart, but I recognize you, like I've seen you before."

"Well, she's obviously not a human if she's with us," Phil replied.

"But she looks familiar to me too," Darby said. "What's you're name, dear?"

"Fiona"

"As in the spring sprite? That Fiona?" Dakota asked eyes wide. Fiona nodded. The leprechaun, the two groundhogs and the wolf exchanged worried glances. "Then he's moving much faster than we thought."

*~*~*~*

The second Comet's hooves touched the ground, Bernard jumped from his back and hurried toward the wreckage that had once been the sleigh. The snow was littered with wood and debris. A few feet away was a shallow crater where Bernard presumed the two girls had actually landed.

Before Bernard could investigate the scene further, Jack slid up beside him. "Any sign of her?"

"No," Bernard replied simply. He tried to ignore the winter sprite, tried to focus on the scene at hand.

Jack seemed to understand and, instead of continuing to instigate like he normally would, started his own search of the area. Aside from the crash site there was no real evidence that anyone else had been around. There were footprints scattered about, but no sign of a struggle. "I don't know where he took her, but all I can smell is boogie magic." Jack shuddered and covered his nose with his sleeve. The boogie man's magic was thick enough to almost weigh them down and smelled of the strongest sulfur.

"It's really strong over here," Bernard said, kneeling in the snow. He brushed aside the cold white powder revealing a large patch of dead grass beneath it. "He must have grabbed Fiona here. The plants are toast."

"Things only die when she's really distressed."

"Well, I assume being grabbed by the boogie man would cause her major distress."

Jack glared at the elf, "I was just saying…"

Bernard knew he was trying to help and that Jack was just as worried about Fiona as he was. It didn't mean he had to suddenly like him. "Look, she's obviously not here. Let's go see if Charlie got any more information from Santa."

"Fine" Jack said. He waved his hand and in a flurry of snow and ice disappeared.

Bernard wiped the snow from his face and grumbled to himself. He walked over to the sleigh again and grabbed Fiona's duffle bag from the wreckage. It was miraculously in tact despite having plummeted through the sky. As he stared at the green bag he felt a gentle nudging at his arm and he turned to find Comet, looking sullen. The reindeer cooed at him as if asking if he was okay. "I'm fine Comet… I'll be better when we find Fiona." Comet nodded emphatically as Bernard hurried and jumped up on his back and they took off again.

*~*~*~*

After several hours of conversing with the other creatures in the holding cell, Fiona learned more about just how bad the situation at hand was. Apparently, the boogie man known as Terrance had been at his game far longer than the Council had thought. Her cellmates were all mythical creatures. However, none of them or the others that had been nabbed before ran holidays or seasons so they had gone unnoticed by the Council of Legendary Figures.

Dakota was a breed of enchanted wolf, blessed with some nature magic and the ability to speak. She had been out hunting when Terrance had found her. She had been around the longest at three months. Darby was a member of the royal court of leprechaun but of low enough status as not to be missed. Phil and Chuck were the closest, being the groundhogs that predicted the weather after the second of February. Terrance had grabbed them well after their season so they're absence hadn't gone noticed yet.

His plan had, apparently, been the same with Angelica but she had proven a more difficult target. If he had managed to get rid of her before the start of the Christmas season then he would have become untouchable. Since it hadn't worked he had had to readjust his plans. The others feared that he might use Fiona as a replacement for the Christmas spirit.

In all honesty, Fiona wasn't that worried about him or her own safety. If anything, she was more upset that this had been allowed to go on for so long. She was furious with the Council, furious that Mother Nature hadn't noticed the phenomenon of missing creatures and furious no one had put a stop to it. There was no question Terrance was powerful and he was far more than Fiona could have possibly handled on her own. She couldn't understand how a boogie that had grown so powerful hadn't been detected sooner. The fact that he seemed to be taking "lesser" creatures and draining them slowly probably did help him out some. He was clever and dangerous, a terrible combination. Worse yet, according to the others, the stronger he got, the more magic he needed.

"Has anyone tried to escape?" Fiona asked.

"If we were to try to run he'd grab us. It's a large building, but he seems to always know when anyone is lucky enough to get out. He puts an end to that quickly. No one here is strong enough to take him on." Dakota sighed heavily, laying her head on her outstretched paws.

Before Fiona could ask anymore questions, the door to the cell opened. Terrance stood in the doorway wearing his skin crawling smile. "Getting acquainted, are we?" He took a step forward and the four creatures shrunk back. Fiona rolled her eyes and held her ground. He passed over the sprite and stopped in front of the two groundhogs. Stooping down he picked up Chuck with carefully gloved hands. "I'd love if you could come with me, my friend."

"Let him go!" Phil called chasing after Terrance as he began to leave. Dakota jumped in the way, stopping him. Terrance paid no mind carrying the groundhog out of the cell and closing the door behind him.

Phil glared at Dakota and raced toward the bars. He pulled at them futility and continued to cry out for his friend.

Fiona watched him, unsure of what to do. Dakota walked over to her, head hung low. "Chuck didn't have much magic left," She whispered, "He'll probably be done after this."

"We need to get out of here," Fiona declared, "All of us."

"And how do you propose to do that, missy?" Darby asked, justifiably cynical. "We already told you that no one's been able to escape here."

Fiona looked around the room for anything that would cause inspiration. Her eyes finally rested on the small window in the wall opposite her. She stood up and walked closer to it, eyes transfixed on the small amount of darkened sky she could see. "Maybe it's not a matter of getting out. Maybe we just need to let someone know where we are."

"You have a plan?" Phil asked breaking himself away from his own attempt to gain freedom

"I do," she said, "But I'm going to need to borrow some magic."

*~*~*~*

Back at the Miller's, the search still wasn't going well. There was still no sign of Fiona or the boogie man that had taken her. Worse yet, there was no way to track either of them and no where to even start looking. He could have taken her to a completely different country by now for all they knew.

On the plus side, the rescue party had figured out how to stop the boogie man if they could manage to find him. It had been an innocent suggestion by Angelica that had led to the discovery. The Christmas Spirit mentioned the idea of night lights as a means of protection for children from the boogie man. An hour or so worth of research later had uncovered an item known as the Light Stone. The Light Stone, was a more magical version of the human night light and was the easiest way to catch a boogie.

Jack had quickly teleported to the pole to help Santa find the item in the workshop. Charlie had gone upstairs to search the internet, hoping that maybe the plethora of knowledge held within it could lead them to the boogie man's whereabouts. Bernard was left downstairs, wracking his brain for anyway to find the missing spring sprite. He sat down on the couch in the living room that he had shared with Fiona only a night earlier. Head in his hands, he contemplated how things had gone so pear shaped so quickly.

"Bernard," a tiny voice next to him said. Bernard looked over at Angelica and tried to smile reassuringly. "It's going to be okay. We'll find Fiona."

"I know we will," he said. He didn't feel like he was lying to the girl, but his words didn't feel truthful either.

"I know you two are close," she continued, "And I don't think you should get down on yourself. All you've done is try to help." Angelica hugged him tightly.

Her warmth and her words actually made Bernard feel better. Her hugged her back, whispering, "Thanks, Angie."

They sat there quietly for a while, the first moments of peace anyone had had in far too long. Bernard watched as the first rays of sun lazily made their way across the carpeted floor. Suddenly the tranquility was broken as something whizzed past Bernard's head.

He ducked, impulsively, pulling Angelica down with him into safety. "What was that?" Angelica whispered.

Bernard stuck his head up, "I don't know. Stay here." Standing up, he tried to locate what had caused the disturbance. Lying on the couch between Angelica and Bernard was a thin green vine. It originated from the window sill and crept across the floor. Following it the erratic path it weaved, Bernard came upon the duffle bag he had saved from the sleigh wreckage. He reached into the bag and found the end of the vine twisted around something toward the bottom. With a swift pull, he dislodged the vine and the item it had ensnared. The elf smiled, for the first time in hours though he mentally kicked himself for not thinking of the solution earlier.

As if on cue, Jack appeared on the couch next to Angie. In his hand was a pointed glowing stone, the same bright white color as his hair. "What's going on?"

Bernard stood, holding on to the magical snow globe that had helped them find Angelica earlier. "Fiona sent a message" he said indicating the vine. "I know how we're going to find her."

There was no question in Bernard's mind what he wanted most at that moment and the image of Fiona that formed once the mini snow storm had dissipated was the clearest it could possibly be.


	12. Escapes & Battles

* * *

_Loving you is a lot like chasing the rain_  
_You're slipping through my hands_  
 _And I'm wishing for more cloudy days_  
 _So that you might stay here_  
 _Don't you think that you could just stay here?_  
 _Instead of running off with the wind_  
 _Stay and be my summer love_

Summer Love – The Workday Release

* * *

 

  
"Hurry up!" Darby whispered harshly from his look out position at the door. Fiona, perched on a chair underneath the window on the opposite side of the room didn't react. Her eyes were focused far away, her mind deep in concentration. Her hand rested on the sill between the bars, a green vine wrapped around her fingers and traveled out of the building into parts unknown. Darby grumbled, looking nervously between the sprite and the door. "Dakota! She's going to get caught and then we'll all be in trouble."

The wolf nodded, knowing that Fiona using magic for a prolonged amount of time would end badly. Terrance would sense it and then they would all be in even more trouble then they were already in. Dakota gently nudged at the sprite's leg attempting to get her attention. "Fiona?"

Fiona snapped back to reality as suddenly as she had disappeared. She looked down at Dakota for a moment before quickly remembering the situation at hand. "Is he coming?"

"Not yet, but he's sure to be here soon," Dakota asked as Fiona pulled the vine from her hand and tossed it out the window. "Did you reach anyone?"

Fiona jumped down from the chair and moved it away from the window back to the other side of the room. "I hope so."

"He's coming!" Darby hissed. The three prisoners scurried back to their positions. Fiona scooped up Phil, who was still in what could amount to shock, and sat back down in the corner, holding him in her lap and pulling the blanket around them both.

Just as everyone had stopped moving, their eyes fixed on the door, it opened revealing the looming shadow of Terrance. He said nothing, simply walking into the room, placing something on the floor and leaving again. Once his footsteps had receded into the distance, a collective sigh filled the room but the tension was still palpable. All eyes fell on what Terrance had left behind.

Phil was the first to recognize him. The groundhog jumped from Fiona's lap and rushed over to his friend. "Chuck!" he cried, "Are you okay, buddy?" There was no response. Chuck looked up at Phil as if he had never seen him before. His large vacant eyes looked around the room in curiosity as if he didn't recognize any of it. "Chuck…" Phil tried again. The other groundhog continued to ignore him.

"His magic's gone," Darby said, completely disheartened. "He can't speak."

"No!" Phil said, continuing to poke and prod at his friend. "Tell them Chuck! Tell them you're fine."

Dakota sighed and stepped between the two groundhogs. "Phil that's not going to help. Even if he's just in shock, yelling at him won't make things better." Chuck looked at the wolf in fear and raced over to Fiona cowering at her side. His natural fear of the predator confirmed their worry. Fiona pet his back gently, trying to calm him down.

Phil let out a deep sigh of defeat. "Well what am I suppose to do?"

"It'll be fine," Dakota tried to soothe him. "We'll get out of here, you'll see."

"Only if her stupid plan works," He said, turning his attention to Fiona. "You don't even know if you got a hold of anyone do you

Fiona sighed. "Not really, but I tried…"

"That's not going to save us"

"Phil, stop it" Dakota snapped at him.

"No, it's fine," Fiona said. "He's right. There's no way to tell if I got to anyone or not. We just have to hold tight."

"And hope we don't die," The groundhog muttered under his breath.

The room filled with a heavy uncomfortable silence. Fiona continued petting Chuck, wishing she had a more definitive answer for her cell mates. If her friends had gotten her message, then she prayed they hurried.

*~*~*~*

While the original plan had been to wait until hypothetical back up arrived before going to find Fiona, Bernard and Jack had both agreed that there wasn't enough time. If Fiona was using magic in the presence of a boogie, then she was getting desperate. Mother Nature might not like the idea of them going out alone, but Santa too had agreed there was no time and the rescuers had set out.

Angelica had insisted on coming along, feeling responsible for the whole ordeal and Charlie had offered to come too to help keep her out of harm's way. Bernard didn't really feel like arguing and having Charlie with them meant they had a ride… even if it was a ride toward certain doom.

He swallowed hard as he stared out the window of the car at the blurring scenery and the looming darkness. His eyes flicked to the snow globe in his lap. "Stop here!" Bernard said, happy his voice sounded more confident than he felt.

Charlie did as he was told and the car came to a gentle stop outside of an unsuspecting looking building on the outskirts of town. If the feeling in the pit of his stomach and the image in the globe hadn't been so strong, Bernard would have been sure they were at the wrong place. There were no markings on the abandoned gray stucco building except for ancient faded graffiti.

"Though I don't want you to think I'm actually following your lead or anything," Jack said, leaning over the front seat and staring at the building with Bernard and Charlie. "Do you have a plan?"

"Kind of."

"How very reassuring."

"Do you have one?"

"No."

"I think the first plan is you two have to pretend to get along for two seconds or we're never going to find Fiona," Angelica said looking at them pointedly.

The elf and the winter sprite exchanged another strong glare before Bernard said, "With that aside, here's what I'm thinking…"

*~*~*~*

The silence in the detainee's cell didn't last long. Darby had said something sarcastically that had upset Phil and the two had been arguing ever since. Fiona missed the silence and wondered if the two had been going at it like this since they had first been kidnapped. Judging from the fact that Dakota kept yawning and rolling her eyes at them and that Terrance hadn't come to check on the disruption, she figured it was a common affair. It some strange sick way, the squabbling made her miss her friends even more. The groundhog and leprechaun fought just like Bernard and Jack and made her homesick. Fiona decided to try her best to tune them out, lightly scratching Chuck on his head as he silently slept next to her.

"Did you hear that?" Dakota finally interrupted, her ears perked up catching something far away from her squabbling cell mates.

Phil and Darby stopped their argument long enough to listen but there was no sound. "I can't hear a blinkin' thing, Dakota. You're just trying to take his side"

"Well if she is than she's smarter than you," Phil shot back.

"Shut up," Fiona hissed, finally hearing what sounded like muffled voices. She jumped to her feet and hurried to the cell door.

"I still don't hear anything," Darby said and was promptly shushed by everyone else.

The sound continued to intensify until Fiona could begin picking out words. "Hello?!" she called out causing the other voices to stop.

Phil looked at her with wide eyes. "What are you doing?" he whispered.

"Do you have a better idea?" The groundhog shook his head and they all continued to listen.

A long beat passed before a very clear voice responded, "Fiona?"

Fiona smiled so hard she thought her face might explode "Jack?! Jack, we're down here."

Within seconds, loud footsteps were racing toward the holding cell. Fiona stuck her arm out through the cell bars to try and wave her rescuer down. Her heart beat faster as Jack, Charlie and Angelica came into view. Jack instantly grabbed her outstretched hand, his own hands colder than Fiona remembered. "Fiona! Are you okay?"

Fiona nodded. "I'm fine, just get us out of here."

"It's locked," Angelica said, pulling futilely on the bars.

"The only way it ever opens is if Terrance does it," Dakota said.

The others looked at the talking wolf for a second and then back to Fiona. "Freeze it," she instructed Jack rather than explaining the presence of the others. There would be time for that later, she hoped.

Jack's silver eyebrow rose, but he didn't question her. He touched his hand to the lock and it was instantly covered in ice. As if knowing what to do just from Fiona's instructions to Jack, Charlie kicked at the frozen lock shattering it to pieces and causing the door to spring open.

Fiona let the others hurry up before nearly running over to Jack and hugging him fiercely. "What are you doing here?"

"You think I wasn't going to help find you?" he smiled.

Letting him go, Fiona looked around. As she contemplated the next move, a sudden absence caught her attention. "Where's Bernard?"

Jack looked almost annoyed that she had brought up the missing elf. "He went after the boogie to hold him off while we found you."

"What?!" Fiona cried. "We have to go help. He's too powerful for Bernard to face him alone."

Jack grabbed her by the arm stopping her before she could take off. "No," he said simply. Fiona's eyes went wide in near panic. She knew Jack and Bernard didn't get along, but she never thought Jack would actually want any harm to come to the elf. Jack was mischievous not malicious.

The winter sprite sighed as if he was already regretting what he was about to say. "You stay with the others. Get them and yourself to safety. I'll go help Bernard." As Fiona started to respond, Jack took off, a trail of snow and ice in his wake.

Fiona stood dumbfounded behind him, unsure of what had even just happened. Charlie tapped her on the shoulder bringing her back to the present. "Um… Fi? We should go."

Fiona shook her head. "No. I'm not coming. You and Angie need to take these guys out of here before things get worse. They've been through enough already. Wait for us outside and if you don't hear anything soon get a hold of your dad."

Charlie nodded, knowing better than to argue with her. "Just so you know," he added. "They've got this thing called the Light Stone. It's suppose to catch the boogie."

Fiona took this info in as Angelica ran up to throwing her arms around her. "Be careful," She said, giving Fiona a little extra boost of magic.

"I will," Fiona said, hoping her confident words would promote true confidence in her actions. With one more apprehensive smile, she took off down the hallway to help her friends.

*~*~*~*

Fiona wasn't really sure where she was going. She had only been in one hallway of the building and as she hurried on her way they all started looking alike. All she knew was she had to find Jack and Bernard and she had to help stop Terrance. Her only indication of where to go came from the faint chill that the walls held. It very easily could have been the draft from an open window, but something told her Jack had to have headed along this path.

At the end of a hall, Fiona found an open door and raced toward it. At the threshold, she skidded to a stop and ducked just in time to dodge a stray bolt of magic. When she looked up she could fully see the battlefield before her. The small back parking lot behind the building had turned into an all-out war zone with several old cars as the only barriers between combatants. Bernard and Jack were barely holding their own against the boogie man. A magical barrier encompassed the area preventing Terrance from simply running away. Fiona wasn't sure who had made it but it was weak and with a battle this intense it wasn't going to last long.

Seeing her opportunity as Jack shot ice at Terrance's feet freezing him to the ground, Fiona sprinted across the lot toward the far side away from the building. Before she could find a place to hide, something grabbed her arm and pulled her behind an old rusty parked car.

"You're okay," she breathed throwing her arms around Bernard as soon as she recognized him. It was clear he was beaten up from the fight but he was alive and that was all that mattered to her.

"What are you doing here? Jack was supposed to tell you to go with Charlie."

She smirked. "When do I ever listen to either of you?"

Jack's yell brought them both back to the situation at hand. Peering around the car, Fiona saw Jack as he was sent flying across the lot landing on the roof of a station wagon. As Terrance loomed toward him Fiona hurried out from her hiding spot and placed her hands on the ground. Two vines shot from the asphalt speeding toward the boogie man. They snaked around his legs and Fiona grabbed them by the end pulling them tight and causing Terrance to fall on his face.

Terrance laughed despite his predicament. "I figured you'd be out to play soon." He pointed at the vines shooting a spark at them. They instantly retreated back toward Fiona. Terrance turned the rest of his power toward Fiona as he got to his feet. A shot hit her in the side sending her reeling backwards. With another malicious laugh, Terrance advanced toward her. Fiona propped herself on her hands and knees trying to pull herself back up. As Terrance continued toward her, Bernard snuck up behind him, the light stone in his hand. He raised his hand up to attack Terrance with it, but the boogie spun around suddenly and fired a beam at the elf. Bernard was sent hurtling backwards slamming hard against the wall of the building. The stone flew from his hand and skidded across the ground.

"No!" Fiona called, still trying to regain her footing on the slick snowy ground.

Terrance looked back at her only momentarily, an eerie smile creeping across his face. "Maybe the easiest way to get to you all along was to finish off your little friends. Without them, what do you have to fight for?"

He turned his attention back to Bernard, who held his side and braced himself against the wall. Fiona didn't have time to think. With Terrance distracted, Jack still incapacitated and Bernard's doom impending she only had a small chance. She scurried toward the discarded crystal.

Bernard's eyes went wide when he realized what she was doing. Luckily, Terrance mistook this for fear. "Don't worry elf. You fought valiantly and I'll take good care of Fiona when you're gone."

"No, you won't!" Fiona yelled charging at the boogie man. He whipped around toward her grabbing out for her. Fiona thrust the stone toward him hitting him in the chest as he grabbed her arm in a vice grip. The same overwhelming rush of her life force being drained from her hit Fiona as she cried out and fell to her knees. Terrance screamed as well, a horrible noise rising from his throat as he clawed at the stone with his free hand, trying to pull it from his chest. His efforts were in vain and the stone instead seemed to swallow him up before harmlessly falling to the ground.

Fiona felt the world lurch and, with the lack of any support, she started to fall. Suddenly as if by magic, Bernard was there, catching her before she could hit the ground.

"Fiona…" he said. His hair was disheveled, his cloths torn, dirt streaked across his face. His brown eyes searched frantically around the lot for any clues of what to do.

"I got him?" Fiona asked weakly. Her eyelids were heavy and she could barely hold on to the conscious world.

Bernard turned his attention back to her, smiling worriedly. He nodded, brushing crimson hair from her face. "You got him."

"Good," She said before her eyes closed and the world went black.


	13. Nightmares & Connections

* * *

_I haven't got a clue if you're the one_  
_But I like you and ooh I like how you make me feel_  
_Bring me flowers and talk for hours_  
_And ooh I like you and ooh I like how you make me feel_  
_Close my eyes and dream for miles_  
_And ooh I like you and ooh I like how you make me feel_  
Bring Me Flowers~ Hope

* * *

 

When Fiona woke again, it was dark and she was completely disoriented.

She blinked several times trying to let her eyes adjust to the dim lighting and trying to figure out just what had happened. Mentally she kicked herself for passing out again. It made her feel weak and useless, two traits she didn't care to exhibit. Her whole body throbbed dully but she paid no mind, more intent on figuring out where she was.

She quickly assessed that she was not in the parking lot she had lost consciousness in which was a decided plus. In fact, she was sure she wasn't even in Minnesota anymore. Fiona was back in her bedroom at the North Pole, a place that seemed strange and foreign though she had only been away from it for a few days. It was, however, warm and comfortable, something she hadn't felt since her capture.

A vague idea passed through her mind: what if it had all been a dream? She had hoped for such things while she was captured but now the though terrified her. Maybe she hadn't found Angelica or gotten kidnapped or fought Terrance. If it had been a dream, she had barely escaped it alive. There was no telling how she would fare if she had to do it again.

She placed the thought on the back burner instead deciding to tempt fate and sit up. The throbbing in her body intensified threefold and she gasped for air, barely making it to a sitting position. She grabbed her head with her hands listening to her rapid heartbeat and waiting for it's eventual slow down. Taking another deep breath, Fiona reached for the nightstand next to her bed and flicked the switch on a small lamp illuminating most of the room. The light fell on a figure next to Fiona's leg and she was surprised she wasn't alone. She immediately recognized him even with his body hunched over and his face hidden in the crook of his arm. He had obviously fallen asleep while keeping an eye on her.

"Jack?" she said softly. Jack Frost grumbled slightly but didn't stir. "Jack…" she tried again, this time far louder and more sing-songy. The winter sprite groaned audibly turning from her. "Jack!" she said, nudging him gently with her knee.

Jack turned back toward Fiona with a smirk on his face, "I should be mad at you for waking me, but I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful alarm clock," he said, yawning and stretching his arms over his head. Fiona felt her face flush slightly having not expected flirtatious Jack to come out so quickly. "Though most other alarms don't physically assault me."

"If you call me barely kneeing you in the face an assault, we have very different definitions of the word."

Jack's smirk evolved into a full on grin. "How're you feeling?"

"Okay-ish?" Fiona shrugged, ignoring the continued buzzing sensation in her head.  "As well as can be expected after getting all my magic zapped. I'm kinda throbby and still really tired which seems weird."

"Yeah, especially after four whole days of sleeping"

Fiona's eyes went wide "Four days?! Seriously?!" Jack nodded. "I... what happened after I passed out?"

"Well, we made sure the boogie was gone, aka stuck inside that stone thingy. Then we grabbed you and all the other creatures he'd been keeping and took you all to Santa's ex's house. Santa's kid started working on getting the others back where they belonged."

"Did he get them all home?" Fiona asked, cutting Jack off.

Jack gave her a sideways look. "Of course you're more interested in their safety then your own," Fiona tried to respond but he continued, "Yeah, we got them all back okay and they all got their magic back pretty quick after you stopped the boogie. You, on the other hand, were still out and all we can figure is because you were the last one and closest to him when he fell, your magic is taking a while to build back up. I brought you back to the Pole and straight to the elfirmary to get checked out. They decided you just needed rest and so now you're here and awake four days later."

"Wow."

"I know right?"

"So everybody's okay?"

"Yup. Home safe and sound be they wolf, elf, leprechaun, spirit or sprite."

"My plants are toast, right?" Fiona ask. Being magically linked to her plants, it figured that if Fiona lost her magic the ones in the greenhouse would be the first impacted by it.

Jack nodded sadly. "They tried to save as many as they could, but when you got knocked out they pretty much bit the dust."

"And you're on guard duty?" she asked, smirking and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Uh-huh."

"I'm amazed that's even allowed."

Jack's face fell. "Why? Don't you think I can watch over you?"

"No, I just mean, I figured Bernard would be up in arms about it. You know how surprised I was that you two were working together."

"Well, he didn't really have a choice."

"Why not? What'd you do to him?" Fiona teased.

"I didn't do anything! Santa got mad at him for spending all his time here, was afraid he wasn't focusing on his work and made him take a break."

"Really?"

"Would I lie to you? Especially when it involved the golden elf getting in trouble?" Jack rationalized.

He had a point, Jack would be the first and the most accurate when it came to reporting Bernard's screw ups, though he did have a tendency to exaggerate. "You really should be nicer to him."

"Why?" Fiona was sure he honestly had no clue why she would even suggest such a thing. "It's so much more fun not to be."

Fiona rolled her eyes and reached out to smack him playfully but she immediately drew her hand back in pain. Her fingers burned from some unseen force. "Are you okay?" Jack asked reaching for her hand. The second their fingers touched the same searing cold pain shot through Fiona's body.

"Cold," she managed to squeak out. Jack shrunk back from her not entirely sure of what had happened. His cold magic wasn't supposed to affect her. "I… I'm sorry, it was just so cold." Fiona rubbed her hands together hoping the friction would alleviate the icy chill.

Jack still looked crestfallen, upset that he had hurt her. "It's okay Jack! It's just got to be my lack of magic," she assured him with a smile. "And I was going to say that I greatly appreciate you bravely stepping in to take Bernard place and watch me vegetate?"

"You make it sound as amazing and illustrious as it was. I am pretty fantastic like that," said Jack, regaining his usual gusto. The boost to the ego had done the trick.

Fiona snorted and snuggled back into her pillow, "Well, I appreciate you taking time out of the busy schedule you never attend to for little old me."

"Not a problem, my dear." Jack smiled in an almost uncharacteristically normal way happy to have a friend who, even when sarcastic, actually understood him. He thought to place his hand on hers but remembered the earlier pain it had caused. Instead he shoved his hands in his pockets and continued his guard duty as Fiona slept soundly.

*~*~*~*

**_The funny thing is you thought you could stop me_ **

**_You thought everything you were doing was for the greater good_ **

**_You were so wrong it's almost pathetic._ **

**_You can't save them_ **

**_You NEVER could_ **

**_And you're going to lose him_ **

**_Everyone you know will be gone, but his death will hurt the worst_ **

**_And you'll live with that_ **

**_You'll live with that for eternity, my sweet_ **

**_Because I will_ **

**_NEVER_ **

**_Let you_ **

**_Forget it!_ **

**_*~*~*~*_ **

Fiona sat bolt upright in bed and immediately grasped her head in pain. She fell back onto her pillow as quickly as she had sat up. Her hand over her eyes, she took several deep breaths trying to calm herself.

"Fiona?" It was Bernard and he was obviously worried. Fiona moved her hand enough to see his face. She was relived to see how good he looked compared to the last time she had seen him. He was back in his normal clothes and had his normal sparkle back. Besides a few cuts and bruises on his face he seemed no worse for ware. He was still looked at her expectantly. "What happened?"

"I don't know, I…" Fiona sat up, much more slowly this time. Bernard tried to help her but she waved him off and took another deep steadying breath. "I think I had a nightmare."

"You think?" he was perched a short distance away from her on the very edge of the bed and his face was filled with the concern his words held.

"I've never had one before. Well, never's an exaggeration, but I don't have them enough that having one is a big deal."

"What was it about?"

Fiona had been desperately trying to grab the treads of the dream that she was left with but they had disappeared when the rushing feeling in her head appeared. "I don't really remember. I just know it wasn't good."

"Well, luckily it was just a dream and if you can't remember it, maybe that's for the better." Bernard shrugged.

"Maybe," Fiona smiled though she couldn't shake the feeling that it might have meant more than that. She needed to change the subject "So, what's this I hear about you getting in trouble?"

"I…" Bernard started but his mouth simply hung open in astonishment. Fiona had been out for four days and she still knew what had been happening. "I didn't I mean I kinda did but..."

Fiona giggled. "Relax, B! Jack told me about it when I woke up the first time. What happened?"

Bernard had rolled his eyes fairly well at the mention of Jack but seemed to have regained his composure. "I didn't really get in trouble. I just, I was in here making sure you were okay, like a lot. But it wasn't like I wasn't doing my work or something like that. It was Mrs. Clause, actually. She thought I should get some rest and made me leave for a while and put Jack in charge. Of course, that happened to be when you finally woke up."

"I bet Jack rubbed that one in."

"More than you know."

"Well, I appreciate you keeping watch, but like I told Jack, you guys really didn't need to keep a hawk eye on me. Not like I was going anywhere"

Bernard sighed, looking away from her. "Fiona, we've already talked about this. 85% of my life is worrying. Especially-- especially, when something's my fault."

Fiona's eyebrow rose. "Your fault? What are you talking about?"

"It was my plan for you guys to head back separate and I wasn't there to help you when the sleigh fell or when you got captured." He still wasn't looking at her.

"Bernard, you couldn't help that! You had no idea and no way of preventing it. Plus you came and rescued me."

"Some rescue," he scoffed. "If you hadn't jumped in the way, I'd be the one in that bed. If anything you're in worse shape after we tried to save you."

"Well, I'm not dead. I'm tired and sore but I'm fine. You're fine, Jack's fine, Angelica's fine, all the other creatures are fine! We accomplished the mission and everything's better for it." She reached out and took hold of his hand happy his magic didn't affect her the way Jack's had. When she looked up he was finally looking at her. "Don't talk in 'what could have happened?' We just have to be happy it all worked out."

His eyes shifted to their hands. "You're right."

"I'm glad that after _all_ these years you _finally_ understand that," She teased causing him to give her the first smile she'd seen since waking. It was a small one, but it would do.

"Actually Fi, there's something I wanted to talk to you about." He was back to looking worried which, in turn, worried Fiona. The pressure of the season and the pressure of the last few weeks had to be destroying the elf's already fragile psyche. She was still mentally kicking herself over the fact he was wasting all this time on her.

"And that would be…"

Bernard sighed again, looked up at her and then immediately looked away again as if the words he was searching for would suddenly appear in the middle distance, "I just, I've been thinking a lot lately and I wanted to ask you."

Before he could finish his sentence there was a knock at the door. The elf and the fairy looked at each other as if not knowing how to respond to the sound. "Come in?" Fiona finally called.

Within a moment, Angelica was at the bedroom door with a ten watt smile on her face. "Fiona!" she cried hurrying toward the sprite. The girl practically leaped onto the bed and threw her arms around Fiona.

Fiona winced slightly, more from surprise than actual pain. "Hey, Angie! You look much better," she said once the girl pulled away.

"I feel much better!" Angelica assured her. "How about you?"

"Meh," Fiona said.

"Did you hear about everything that's happened the last couple days?" The spirit continued to gush.

"A little bit," Fiona said. Her attention was half on Angelica, half on Bernard. He had let go of her hand when Angelica had arrived and managed to make his way back to the other side of the room. His paperwork was spread across a hardly used desk where he had apparently taken up residence during Fiona's incapacitation and he sat down at a chair in front of it.

Fiona tried to pay attention to Angelica's account of the recent days activities but the nagging thought of what Bernard had wanted to ask her continued to attack the back of her mind. The combination of it and the Christmas Spirit's rapid pace story made her tired all over again. It seemed insane that she could still need sleep after all her time being acquainted with it. However, after getting more comfortable and trying unsuccessfully to listen to Angelica, she was soon asleep once more.

*~*~*~*

"You know you're not supposed to be out here..." A voice behind Fiona chided her. She rolled her eyes and looked up to see Jack standing over her and smiling mischievously.

"I was going stir crazy," She admitted. "I had to get out of that room." It was true. Fiona had been in her bedroom for almost a week, albeit soundly asleep through four of those days, but the enclosed space was beginning to get to her. Sprites did not do well if left in the same place for too long. Fiona could only sleep so much, when she wasn't having strange nightmare, and she had escaped to the greenhouse while no one was paying attention. Or so she thought before Jack arrived. Not that finding her hiding in there would have been much of a shock to anyone.

"Your magic's not strong enough to do anything yet," Jack said, sitting down on the ground beside her. Fiona pulled her gray sweatshirt jacket closer as subtly as possible to keep out the cold. She didn't want Jack to get upset about the cold effect he still had on her. It wasn't as bad as it had been initially, but it still caused an extra chill to run down her spine.

"Well, I'm not going to get better if I don't try," she reasoned, placing her hand in the soil in front of her. As she pulled it away, a few small sprigs of green foliage trailed after her. They were barely an inch tall, but they were something.

"You're gonna wear yourself out."

"Probably," Fiona said, running her hands over her new creation. Jack actually seemed worried about her which was decidedly strange. He usually only looked out for himself. The plants between Fiona's fingers began growing very slowly until she pulled away from them again.

Jack sighed, watching her stare at her plants. "Fi…" he said, trying to bring her back to the present.

Fiona shook her head causing her long red braid to fly around wildly, before looking at him as if nothing had happened. "What's up?"

"We need to get out of here," Jack declared jumping to his feet and offering a hand to Fiona.

"What?"

"Come on! I'm in charge of watching over you and I say you need to get out for a bit," He sais, reaching down and gently grabbing her arm.

Fiona stood slowly, her legs tingling slightly from being stuck in a crossed position for so long. She used Jack as support and was soon on her feet. "What did you have in mind?"

Jack smiled and linked her arm in his. "You'll see."

*~*~*~*

The guardians of the winter and spring seasons made their way though the uncrowded streets of Elfsburg carrying on a fairly casual conversation. It was still early in the evening so most of the elves were still in the factory. Though having been cooped up had Fiona in desperate need of interaction with other living beings, she didn't mind the tranquility of the streets and the chance to walk with Jack without elves staring.

Eventually they arrived at the Elfsburg Café. It was a small building a little ways away from the factory and looked as though it was made out of the gingerbread it was known for serving. They hurried inside, becoming the only occupants of the rather large room, and heading for one of the tables near the back. The table, which by elfin standards was a high top, was normal size for the two full grown creatures. Jack's "secret" getaway wasn't quite as clandestine as he had originally made it out to be. "This really is a shock, Jack," Fiona teased him once they had settled.

"You know me. Always keeping things new, fresh!" he said brushing his fingernails off on his suit. He leaned closer to Fiona. "It's not like I had much to work with around here. These elves wouldn't know culture if it waltzed right into the factory."

Fiona rolled her eyes still unsure why Jack chose to spend so much time at the Pole when all he did was trash talk it. Before their conversation could continue, an elf in a red and black dress and a small gold tiara walked up to the table. "Hey there, Miss Abby," Fiona said to the cocoa elf. Abby was the main elf in charge of the Café and always knew the right cocoa for any situation. She and Judy were cousins and both were quite gifted when it came to the art of the cocoa bean.

Abby hugged the sprite. "I heard you were feeling better! It's so good to see you and you look great." Fiona was sure she looked far from great having been locked away for days. Her hair was back in a messy braid, her usually light skin was even paler than normal and her large gray sweatshirt and faded denim jeans were far from the latest trend. She thanked Abby anyway.

"You haven't been around enough this year," the elf continued

"I know," Fiona sighed. "It wasn't like I planned it."

"But you saved Angelica!"

"Everyone knows about that already, huh?"

"You know how quick gossip travels around here. They knew it the second you got back."

Fiona shook her head with a laugh. "Well it wasn't really a big deal."

"Not how I hear it told," Abby said, placing her hands on her hips. "You're definitely being modest."

"She does that a lot," Jack interjected, having been ignored longer than his ego could take.

Fiona continued to ignore him deciding to find an interesting spot on the table to look at.

Abby noticed the sprites uncomfortable mannerism and decided to change the subject. "Oh, did you hear that Judy got the cocoa beans you were working on for her?"

Fiona blinked. "She did? I thought everything in the greenhouse died."

"Well it did," Abby admitted, sadly, "But she got them out right before everything went bad and I guess she's been working with them ever since. She says her new creation will be ready soon and she wants you to try it first."

"That's fantastic!" Fiona smiled.

"Speaking of cocoa, I'll go get you two some and some of the good gingerbread," Abby said, happy to have improved the sprite's mood. "You guys are lucky you got here when you did. The rush will be here in a little bit."

With that, the elf headed back into the kitchen, leaving Jack and Fiona alone in the café again. The soft sound of an instrumental version of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" wafted from the speakers. "What did she mean by 'the rush will be here'?" Jack finally asked as if he'd been contemplating it since Abby had departed.

Fiona looked at him pointedly. "You mean, you didn't know when you suggested coming here?" She asked. Jack shook his head and Fiona laughed. "It's a Thursday night at the Elfsburg Café."

Jack's eyes went wide as he suddenly realized her implications. He then groaned audibly and smacked his head down on the table which only caused Fiona to laugh harder.

*~*~*~*

The reason for Jack's reaction was apparent only about an hour later. The café was packed with elves and a million times louder. "Thursday Night at the Elfsburg Café" was Karaoke Night. Had Jack not had to have made such a snap decision as to where to take Fiona he may have thought his choice of venues through better. While elves were fairly gifted singers when it came to holiday tunes, they didn't always enjoy singing them on their time off. Their karaoke night renditions of the greatest hits of the 70's, 80's and beyond left something to be desired.

Jack and Fiona, being musically inclined by their fae birth had a hard time dealing with the tone deaf elves. Having no where else, to go though and trying to make the best of the cheap entertainment, the spring and winter sprites quickly engaged in a battle of whispered snarky comments. As each song went on, they tried to one up each other with their words. Jack tended to win, able to be much harsher to the elves than Fiona could. Most of the "singing"  bordered on caterwauling, but the participants and the audience seemed to enjoy themselves and they still weren't nearly as bad as some of the mortals Fiona had encountered down south. The elves saw the time as a reprieve from the pressures of toiling away on toys all day. If anything it was a moral booster and all in good fun.

After an interestingly painful rendition of "All by Myself", Oliver, the elf who served as the MC for such events, declared that there would be a short break but to "keep the great requests coming."

"Thank goodness," Jack said once Oliver had stepped down and the rest of the café patrons had engrossed themselves in their own conversations, "I thought they'd never stop."

"Oh, you say that like you don't enjoy every minute of making fun of them," Fiona said. She stretched her bare arms over her head, having taken off her jacket when the crush of elves had descended. The extra bodies made the café almost unbearably hot even in her tank top and she wondered how Jack could manage it.

"I never said that! I just needed to give my eardrums a chance to stop bleeding." He touched his pointed ear for emphasis, looking at his hand for any signs of actual blood.

"You're terrible."

"What?" Jack feigned hurt. "You know as well as I do that this is horrid! They need someone up there who can really sing to show them what for." He sent a very pointed look in Fiona's direction.

Fiona chose to ignore his cold blue gaze and sipped at the little bit of cocoa she'd been slowly nursing. "So why don't you get up there?"

"Because," he said leaning back in his chair, "I know how to analyze my audience and, trust me, I'd have better luck singing show tunes to truck drivers than crooning anything for this crowd."

Fiona laughed out loud. "I can't help but imagining the mighty Jack Frost and an audience of truckers singing 'The Sound of Music.'"

"Complete with spinning in fields and overhead helicopter shots."

"Exactly!"

"You still didn't answer my question." His face was serious again and again it unnerved Fiona.

"Well, technically you didn't ask me a question."

"That's what this face is for," he said pointing for to his face and the expression upon it. "I shouldn't have to ask if I'm making this face. It's called context clues!"

"Maybe you're faces aren't as readable as you think they are."

Jack rolled his eyes, "Fine then! Why don't you go up there and sing? Clear enough?"

"No need to be rude," Fiona said, placing her mug on the table. "What makes you think they'll wanna hear me anymore than they want to hear you?"

"Don't kid yourself, Fi, they love you! Plus it doesn't hurt that you can sing better than all of them combined."

"Unless it's a holiday standard."

"Then don't sing one of those."

Fiona sighed. "Jack, I'm tired. I haven't been at my best as you very well know. Maybe some other time, but right now, I'm totally content with being a spectator."

To her surprise, Jack seemed content with the answer and let the subject drop as Oliver took the stage and announced the next singer and selection: Billy Joel's the Piano Man.

Fiona and Jack both groaned audibly and then tried to act more nonchalant when a few elves looked back at them. "Not sure I can handle this without more cocoa," Jack leaned over and whispered to Fiona. "I'm gonna hit up the kitchen."

"It better be the good stuff if you're going to leave me out here to endure this alone," she hissed back.

Jack chuckled slightly and stood from the table, heading toward the kitchen. Fiona turned her attention back to the stage and tried to mentally prepare herself for the wonderfully cliché display she was about to witness.

The karaoke continued song after song. A few seconds after the atrocity that had been "Piano Man," Jack arrived back at the table handing Fiona a steaming mug. She told him it didn't even begin to make up for leaving her alone, but drank the cocoa offered anyway. Jack promised to make up for it another time.

Around 9pm, it was evident that the night was finally beginning to wear down. The song choices had become far more laid back and the energy that had once been palpable had cooled into an active but calmer mood. The place was still packed and near standing room only, as it was sure to be until closing.

As Gretchen, a wrapping elf, stepped off the stage to the applause for her version of "My Heart Will Go On," Oliver took control of the stage again.

"Come on, let's hear it for her, guys!" The MC elf's energy hadn't waned which wasn't necessarily a good or bad thing. "Now folks, we actually have a pretty special treat coming up."

The crowd began to buzz, curious as to the surprise in store. Fiona too felt herself caught up in it. Any deviation from the norm seemed welcome at this point.

"We have a fantastic singer who's agreed to lend her voice to the festivities tonight…" he continued talking but Fiona immediately shot a look at Jack. Jack sipped his cocoa innocently and stared straight at the stage.

"You didn't," she said.

"Didn't what?"

"Jack!"

"She's our very own Spring Sprite. Fiona, come on up here!"

The entire audience seemed to turn at the exact same time, clapping and staring at Fiona. She looked away from Jack, gulped loudly, and then turned back to the winter nymph. He looked over at her and smiled. "Well go on."

"But how did you… I mean… I didn't"

"Your public's waiting for you," Jack said standing from his chair, stepping behind her and giving her a small push toward the stage.

Fiona tried not to groan too loudly, afraid she might offend the audience she already didn't want to get up in front of. The elves in front of her parted allowing her safe passage to the café stage. She didn't even know what song she was singing. Jack was going to pay for this big time. Sure she had flushed the same color as her hair, she was glad to have forsaken her jacket as she moved through the crowd.

When she reached the stage, she took her place in front of the microphone and the elves gradually stopped their courtesy applause. Oliver stepped down and a second later the music started. Had she been on a game show, Fiona could have named that tune in 3 notes. She took a deep steadying breath, closed her eyes and held the microphone up to her lips. A second later she was singing along.

 _Why are there so many songs about rainbows_  
_And what's on the other side?_  
_Rainbows are visions, but only illusions,_  
_And rainbows have nothing to hide._  
_So we've been told and some choose to believe it_  
_I know they're wrong, wait and see._  
_Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection,_  
_The lovers, the dreamers and me._

Fiona opened her eyes slowly. The entire café was silent, their collective eyes fixed on the singing sprite. It seemed as though more elves had managed to enter the building while she had been ignoring them. The kitchen elves were all on the floor. Jack was still standing at the table grinning at her. Fiona looked away from them and the song continued.

 _Have you been half asleep_  
_and have you heard voices?_  
_I've heard them calling my name._  
_Is this the sweet sound that calls the young sailors?_  
_The voice might be one and the same._  
_I've heard it too many times to ignore it._  
_It's something that I'm supposed to be._  
_Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection,_  
_the lovers, the dreamers and me._

The song slowly faded and the café broke into the most thunderous applause of the evening. Fiona grinned, curtsying slightly and heading off the stage. Before she could get too far, Oliver was back and grabbed her by the arm pulling her back to center stage. "Wasn't that fantastic folks! Let's give Fiona another round of applause."

There were whistles and catcalls and Fiona tried to continue smiling and not let her blush creep back up. Oliver finally released her and she sprinted back through the crowd to the safety of her table.

"Not bad," Jack said, sipping his drink thoughtfully.

Fiona grinned and then punched him in the arm.

*~*~*~*

"Well, it's not like you didn't do a good job," Jack contested as he and Fiona walked back to her place after the café had closed.

"I didn't say that," Fiona said, "I just didn't appreciate you dropping it on me like that. I told you I didn't want to."

"Oh like you really thought I would have let it go that easily. And don't act like you didn't enjoy it."

He was right, she had enjoyed it. Much more than she expected even. Fiona smirked to herself as they reached her front door, "Maybe I did. In general, I actually had a really great time tonight," she admitted. "Thanks for breaking me out for a while."

Jack took her hand in his and kissed the top of it as he often did. "The pleasure was all mine, my dear Fiona." He looked at her a moment longer than he should have, as if he wanted to say something else, but instead released her hand and with a bow turned and took off down the street.

Fiona opened the door of her condo, entered and closed it again, leaning against the mahogany. She knew she was still smiling and she wasn't entirely sure why. The last time she had felt this happy had been ice skating pre-hypothermia. That seemed like so much longer ago than it really was. Fiona bit her lip, wishing for once she could simply be happy with the mere idea of being happy.

"Fiona!" Angelica's excited voice called from the entry to the bedroom. Fiona looked up at the Christmas Spirit having not noticed her until that very moment. Before Fiona could question her how or why she was there, Angelica ran up to her and threw her arms around the sprite continuing to chatter, "We went by the café today and we heard you singing! You sounded so good! You look happy!"

Fiona's smile instantly returned. "Thanks, Ang. I  _feel_  happy."

Angelica let go of Fiona's waist and grabbed her hand instead, pulling her toward the bedroom. "I know what'll make you even happier," she said cryptically.

Fiona's eyebrow furrowed. "What are you talking about An…" Before she could finish her question, Fiona got an answer.

On the dresser against the far wall in a vase made of purple crystal rested a fairly simple bouquet comprised of light pink roses and baby's breath. Fiona stepped closer, pursing her lips so as to keep her jaw from hitting the floor yet still knowing her face was betraying her confusion.

When she looked over to Angelica, the Christmas Spirit seemed to smile even bigger. "Where did these come from?"

Angelica simply shook her head and shrugged pointing to a small white card sitting in front of the vase. "They were already here when I got here."

Fiona took the card apprehensively, a thousand thoughts running through her mind. They couldn't have come from Jack, there hadn't been enough time. Maybe one of the elves, but who would send a spring sprite flowers. Fiona slowly opened the card, letting her curiosity take over. She recognized the rushed but immaculate handwriting immediately.

 _"Fi, Figured you didn't have enough of these, especially recently. Sorry, I couldn't be around today but saw you sing at the café. You sounded fantastic! Glad you're feeling better. ~B._ "

Fiona read the note three more times before she really believed it. Having somehow convinced herself the present had come from Jack, she was completely thrown off by the fact that it was the handy work of the head elf. She realized Bernard had been the only one she had ever lamented to that she never received flowers since everyone know she could simply conjure her own. That had been a long time ago though and she hadn't expected him to remember especially for what seemed like such a random occasion.

"So…" Angelica led, "Who's it from?"

Fiona had almost forgotten the girl was there and quickly tried to find her voice. "It.. it was from Bernard."

"Interesting," The spirit said, though the tone of her voice betrayed her knowledge, "I was just curious. I should probably let you get rest." She hugged Fiona again and disappeared in a flash of green and gold.

Once she was gone, Fiona let out a sigh she didn't know she had been holding on to. She ran a hand through her hair and found herself reading the note again. There really wasn't anything that spectacular about the words, but she felt herself smiling regardless. Fiona closed her eyes and leaned closer to the vase taking a deep whiff with of the roses. The smell was more amazing than anything she ever remembered creating.


	14. Overgrowth & Answers

* * *

_Everybody has someone to hold_  
_Nestle by the fire in from the cold_  
_But I don't hear the carols they are singing_  
_And I've only got one thing good for giving_

 _So take my heart this Christmas_  
_I'll wrap it in a ribbon and a bow_  
_Yes, take my heart_  
_This Christmas take it where ever you go  
_ All My Bells Are Ringing~ Lenka

* * *

 

The next morning, during the most peaceful dream Fiona had had in days, a knock at the door decided she had been sleeping too long. The sprite tried to ignore the disruption refusing to open her eyes and snuggling deeper into her pillow but the knocking continued. Slowly opening one eye, she focused its glare on the intrusive noise. She hoped that concentrating on it hard enough might make it go away, since ignoring it hadn't worked. Instead, this time, a voice accompanied the banging.

"Fiona, are you in there? It's Leslie." The lead garden elf sounded worried which was quite unlike her and caused Fiona's other eye to open and made her give up on the battle for sleep. The sprite took herself away from her dreams slowly and as she pulled her hand out from under her pillow she realized it was still gripping the note from the previous night. She smiled stupidly at it, amazed it had managed to go unscathed during her sleep.

Placing the note on the nightstand, Fiona stood up, ran her hands over her face, and stumbled toward the front door. She took a deep breath and tried for her most convincing and awake expression. When she saw Leslie's panicked expression, her own face instantly fell. "I didn't think you were in there!" the elf said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Mentally, no, as I was asleep," Fiona yawned to illustrate her point. "Physically, yes. What's going on?"

Leslie bit her lip. "Um... there's a problem at the greenhouse."

"A problem?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded slowly.

Fiona leaned against the doorframe. "What kind of problem?"

"It'd honestly be easier if you saw what's going on."

Fiona sighed. "Give me two second to change." Closing the door behind her, she hurried for the bedroom. Fiona grabbed her clothing from the night before and traded her pajamas for the slightly worn jeans and black tank top.

Whatever was going on it was not what she had expected to be waking up to and it certainly did not bode well for the now miniscule remains of the happy feeling she'd managed to achieve the night before. She pulled on a pair of fingerless gloves and grabbed her sweatshirt jacket while opening the front door again.

Leslie was still standing there and still looked just as worried as she had when Fiona had closed the door on her. The elf looked at her boss, saw she was ready, and took off toward the greenhouse.

"So, on a scale of one to ten, one being 'no big deal' and ten being 'Oh no, the North Pole is melting and we're all going to die!', what kind of problem are we talking here?"

Leslie thought for a moment. "A seven?"

"So like, the factory ran out of ribbon and it's a week 'til Christmas?"

"That's not a terrible analogy."

Fiona appreciated that despite whatever was going on, at least her lead elf was willing to humor her. "But you're still not going to tell me what's up?"

"If I knew what was going on, I would," Leslie sighed.

Before Fiona could press her further, they turned the final corner leading to the greenhouse. Fiona's eyes went wide understanding why Leslie hadn't been able to explain the situation to her. Garden elves were running in and out of the glass building carrying as many plants as they could hold. The situation was especially surprising as nothing had been growing in the greenhouse the day before. Fiona hurried past the elves toward the person who seemed to be holding down the fort until she got there, Carol. Mrs. Clause looked completely frazzled and was pointing the elves in different directions as new problems presented themselves.

"There you are!" Carol said when she spied Fiona. "We've been doing our best but I think it's your turn."

"What the heck is going on?" Fiona looked toward the door of the building and could see only a thick wall of vegetation. The plants were snaking outside through any crack and crevice and were growing to the point of nearly breaking through the magical glass.

Carol shrugged. "I don't know. I was out walking this morning about the time Leslie got to the house and when she opened the doors, the plants just started pouring out! I knew you still weren't feeling well so I didn't want to bother you and we've been trying to manage things, but we're out of options."

Fiona gave a curt nod. "Okay then." She turned around and headed for the doors of the conservatory. The spring sprite tried not to gape openly at the sight within. The greenhouse was covered floor to ceiling in plants of all shapes, sizes, and varieties. Most were fairly normal though some were outrageously bright colors from red to violet and every other rainbow color in between.

Lifting her hands, Fiona pushed back the plants that blocked her way. They cooperated easier than she feared they would and moved backwards slowly creating a pathway for her to enter. Fiona and Carol made their way toward the back of the house where the computer monitoring system sat. The terminal was covered in vines that Fiona pushed out of the way to access the machine. She began typing furiously, pushing aside any other plants that tried to creep toward them as they waited. Fiona looked at the monitor and frowned. "According to this, everything's reading normal and the last person in here was me." She turned to Carol. "It doesn't make any sense though. I barely have enough magic to think coherently. There's no way I could have caused all this."

"That's what I thought," Carol agreed.

Before she could continue, an elf was at Carol's side. "Excuse me Mrs. Claus, but the plants seem to have stopped growing and Mother Nature is here."

Fiona snorted at the comment about the sudden halt wondering if she at least had enough control over this mess to have actually made them stop. The prospect of Mother Nature's visit, however, sent up a red flag. Carol shooed the elf away and gave Fiona an apologetic look. "Like I said, we didn't know if you were up to it and I didn't know what else to do," she explained. "You don't have to talk to her. I'll go handle it."

Fiona groaned. "No, I have to talk with her. She's not going to let me off that easy."

Carol nodded and led the way back out of the greenhouse. Once outside, she went over to greet Mother Nature leaving Fiona to give her elves orders. She told them where to put the left over plants and that any further questions would be deferred to Leslie for the time being. Fiona quieted a few of the more rebellious plants and then headed over to Carol and Mother Nature unsure of what to expect.

The stern look she received from Mother Nature didn't do anything to quell her fears of the coming firestorm. "So what happened?" Mother Nature asked calmly.

Fiona took a deep breath, steadying herself before she let the pressure completely get to her. She hadn't had enough time to process everything and she still wasn't nearly awake enough. If she didn't watch herself, she'd probably say something she didn't mean and create a bigger mess. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I mean, I came into this about two seconds before you did and I have no clue what's going on."

Carol looked between the two women unsure of how to help ease the visible tension and decided to offer a suggestion. "Perhaps we can continue this discussion somewhere else? Maybe Santa's office would be more private."

Mother Nature nodded, her eyes still fixed on Fiona. She was assessing her, making sure she hadn't gone haywire. Fiona didn't appreciate the scrutiny. "That would be ideal."

The three women, led by Carol, made their way through Elfsburg and entered the main factory building. They walked along the edge of the factory floor and past the elves hard at work. Fiona was glad they were busy as she was sure that they'd all know about the situation soon enough. The prospect of the looks, whispers and questions that would come once they were made aware didn't excite her.

Soon they arrived at their destination and Carol opened the doors to Santa's office. Inside they found a very confused looking man in red and number one elf, neither having expected the interruption. "Scott, honey, do you mind if Mother Nature and Fiona borrow your office for a few minutes?" Carol asked as she walked over to her husband.

Santa continued to look at his wife in confusion for a second before the look on her face finally revealed something to him. He nodded turning his gaze to Mother Nature and the dejected looking Fiona. "Of course," he said, then motioned to Bernard to get moving.

Fiona finally looked up from staring at her feet catching Bernard's eye and hoping she gave him her most reassuring "I'll explain later" look as he and the Claus' left the office. The door closed behind them and the room was eerily silent.

"Sit down," Mother Nature commanded though her words were softer than Fiona had expected. The sprite did as she was told, for once, and sat down on Santa's plush burgundy sofa. Mother Nature sat across from her in a matching arm chair. "I'm not mad, Fiona. I just want to know what's going on."

"I wish I knew what to tell you," Fiona sighed, resting her elbows on her knees and placing her head in her hands.

"Just tell me what made all 'that' happen outside," Mother Nature said waving her hand in the general direction of the greenhouse and its various problems.

Fiona looked up for a second, "The greenhouse went nuts! But I swear it wasn't me. Yesterday I could barely make grass grow. My powers aren't strong enough after all that boogie stuff for me to do something like that."

Mother Nature expression softened considerably at the mention of the sprites recent trouble. "Fiona, you know if we had know there was a boogie involved we would have _never_ sent you after him."

"I know." Fiona said.

"But there was nothing else to set all this off?" Mother Nature asked.

"No."

"You're sure?"

"Pretty darn positive"

"No extreme emotions?"

"How do you mean?" Fiona asked as her eyebrow involuntarily rose.

"That's the only thing I could think could trigger it," Mother Nature explained. "You're magic's not strong enough yet after your attack but if you had some kind of motivation it might be able to manifest without you knowing it. You weren't really mad at anyone this morning or something like that?"

Fiona looked around the room as if the various curios in Santa's office might provide an answer. They weren't doing a very good job. She wracked her brain, trying to think of extremes. Finally she shook her head at Mother Nature. "I really can't think of anything. Last night, I tried to grow some stuff, I went out with Jack for a bit and then I came home. Nothing happened that would have been extreme enough for me to use 'subconscious' magic or whatever."

Mother Nature closed her eyes for a moment taking a deep breath. "All right, here's the deal: I don't think you did this on purpose. Honestly, I'm not sure you did this at all. Either way, it looks like it's over for now. I'm going to go down there, have a look around and see if I can figure anything else out. If it is you doing it, you're aware of it now and it shouldn't happen again. I want you to stay low key for a while and keep trying to come up with anything that could have been the cause." Mother Nature stood, walking toward Fiona and placing a reassuring hand on the sprite's shoulder. "Really, it's not a huge deal. Especially after everything you've been through. We'll figure this out."

Fiona nodded. "I know and thank you."

"Not a problem," Mother Nature said. She squeezed Fiona's shoulder gently and then left the room.

The click of the door again left an almost unsettling silence in the office. Fiona thought to groan loudly or scream at the top of her lungs but neither seemed as though they'd actually be helpful. Instead, she turned and flopped backwards on the couch, lying on her back and staring at the intricately designed gold fractal  pattern on the ceiling of the office. She was alone with her thoughts, the one thing she didn't want to deal with.

It was true she had been happy the night before, but as she had already rationalized, not enough to warrant such insane magical results. She could barely create that much foliage on a good day let alone one in the middle of winter after having just had her magic drained by a boogie. Then again, it couldn't have been sabotage, as no one else at the Pole could have hoped to do such a thing. There was something else at work here and thinking about it too hard was exhausting her.

Fiona obviously wasn't going to find the answers lying around in Santa's office so with a sigh she reluctantly sat back up. Abby had said something about Judy wanting to see her the night before, maybe a stiff cup of cocoa was what she needed to clear her head. Fiona stood up and made her way out of the room. When she opened the door, she nearly jumped at the sight of the elf on the other side. He looked equally confused by her and at the same time looked guilty, as though he had been caught. He quickly started explaining himself, "Um, Mrs. Clause told us what was going on and she and Santa are talking to Mother Nature. I… I was just going to come see if you were okay."

Fiona wanted to smile at him but her facial muscles refused to obey. "You mean you're not here to yell at me for causing chaos so close to Christmas."

Bernard's mouth opened in shock. "No, not at all. I was just worried about you."

"Well, thank you," Fiona said. She wasn't looking at him or anything else in particular. The sprite looked as though she were miles away.

"So… _are_ you okay?" he asked as she slipped past him out of the office without having really answered him.

"I think so. I don't know." Fiona sighed as she shoved her hands in her jacket pockets. She was starting to grow tired of not being able to answer with anything but ignorance.

"Which is it?"

"Let's go with, 'everything's fine now, but I still don't know why it all happened in the first place.'"

"Well, that's sorta good, right" he said, though his face showed he wasn't thoroughly convinced. Fiona had no idea what to tell him as answering definitively one way or the other wouldn't be completely accurate. There was a quiet pause as both elf and sprite tried to figure out what could be said in a situation where no answers were apparent. Bernard spoke again, "Is there anything I can do?"

Fiona looked up at him, locking her teal eyes with his brown ones. A million answers to the question swarmed through her head, but none of them came out. What she wanted him to do was make it all better; make all the bad and confusing things go away. Bernard may have been magical, but Fiona knew all that was beyond his power. "Would that there was but there's nothing practical I can think of. I'm gonna go down to the kitchen. Apparently, Judy needs to see me."

"Want me to come with you?"

"I guess if you want to, but don't you have Christmas stuff you need to be dealing with?"

Bernard shrugged and smiled. "Everything's under control in the factory right now and something tells me you could use the company more."

Fiona nodded, offering him a half smile and with that, they headed down the hallway toward the kitchen.

*~*~*~*

Just like the rest of the factory, the main kitchen of the North Pole was abuzz with activity this close to Christmas. Elves of all shapes and sizes in aprons and chefs hats ran about the ridiculously large room carrying ingredient, cooking utensils and finished products wherever they were needed. Much like Fiona's plants, the kitchen elves prepared amazing culinary creations to be sent down south and make some lucky mortals Christmas extra special. They also provided yummy treats for the inhabitants of the North Pole.

The smell of cookies, gingerbread, chocolate, among others filled the air with their delicious aroma. Fiona tried not to let it all distract her and instead, with Bernard in tow, located the least busy looking elf she could find. "Have you seen Judy?" she asked him.

The elf shook his head. "She might be in back. I can go check for you."

Fiona thanked him as he left and leaned against a nearby table top. She grabbed a snicker doodle from the countertop and nibbled on it thoughtfully. Bernard leaned next to her ever watchful eyes monitoring the productivity in the room. The kitchen elves reported to Judy first, but since Bernard was Head Elf he was in charge of them too. The two had been silent on their trek to the kitchen and Fiona wondered if he had switched into work mode now because he didn't know what to say to her. It didn't bother her, but she knew at a time like this, her troubles could potentially stress the already stressed Head Elf further. She felt selfish but, like with everything else. didn't know how to fix it. She was, however, thankful for the company.

Before Fiona could think anymore on the subject, an elf in a large purple princess hat entered the kitchen. She smiled, her round cheeks sparkling, and headed toward the sprite. "Fi!" she cried hurrying over and hugging Fiona close.

"Hi, Judy!"

"I've barely seen you all season," she chided, "That's not okay!"

Fiona shook her head sadly. "I know, I know and I'm sorry. It's not like I was avoiding you on purpose. There have just been too many things going on."

"I want to hear everything," Judy said. For being so small and adorable, Judy held a lot of influence and command. Fiona felt compelled to tell her absolutely everything that had taken place over the past few weeks, but didn't feel that having Bernard or the whole staff of the kitchen listening was a great idea. "I've gotten everything second hand," Judy continued, taking Fiona by the hand and leading her to a small dining table. Bernard followed them over, still silent and observant. "I'd much rather hear it all from you."

The three sat down around the table and immediately a plate of cookies and a glass of milk were placed in front of them. Fiona smiled, thankful for the hospitability that almost made her forget her other troubles. "Well, I can give you the short version, otherwise, we'll be here all day and you'll get nothing done," she said.

Judy conceded and Fiona proceeded to tell her the story of the hunt for Angelica. The "short version" still took half an hour to tell with Fiona skimming over exact details and with Bernard filling in gaps and other information she forgot. Judy hung on their every word seeming upset she hadn't been able to join the adventure. Fiona tried to assure her it wasn't quite as glamorous a mission as it seemed.

"I guess you're right," Judy finally admitted. "Fighting a boogie is probably lowest on my list of things to do in my lifetime."

"You're telling me," Fiona said trying to banish the thoughts and reoccurring nightmares she now associated with him from her mind.

"So, because of his zap thing, your plants all died right?"

Fiona nodded slowly, for the first time in a while remembering the current mess impacting her greenhouse.

"Abby told you we got the cocoa beans out before it all happened though right?"

"That's why I came down here. She told me about it last night and said I had to come by."

Judy smiled, in a somewhat devious manner. "Good. Wait here a second. I have something you need to try."

With that, the kitchen elf stood from the table and hurried off toward the back office area. Fiona looked over at Bernard who was sending a sideways look her direction. She simply shrugged at him which seemed to answer his non-spoken question.

A few seconds later Judy was back. In her hands was a tall silver mug with green vines etched into its surface. Fiona enjoyed the fact that her friend knew exactly which mug was her favorite. Not that it was that hard to guess. The elf was still beaming from ear to ear and carrying the mug as if it were some kind of sacred vessel; to Judy cocoa was the most precious of concoctions. "You're not going to believe how great this is!" Judy said and Fiona couldn't help but share her enthusiasm as she stood from the table and was handed the mug of cocoa.

Fiona slowly brought the creation toward her face and inhaled the sweet pungent aroma. The smell was fantastic and a near sensory overload. Fiona thought for a moment to get lost in the scent but remember she had been entrusted to taste test. She brought the cup up to her lips and after a second of hesitation, eyes glancing over the rim at both Judy and Bernard's expectant faces, took a large gulp of the warm liquid. The smell didn't do the amazing rush of flavor justice. Fiona's tongue had to try to keep up with everything it tasted. There was cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, amaretto, a hint of orange and of course the most delicious chocolate she had ever tasted. They all blended incredibly into a taste that was truly one of a kind. "Wow!" Fiona finally breathed, unsure of what else to say.

"Do you love it?" Judy's smile seemed to encompassed her entire being.

Fiona nodded. "I don't have words."

"It's that good?" Bernard asked, cynical as always. Fiona nodded again, more fervently this time. "Let me try some," he said reaching for the mug

Fiona pulled it away protectively blocking his hand with her shoulder, "No way! Get your own!"

"Come on, really?"

"Really."

"Judy!"

Judy looked between the two for a second before stammering, "I… didn't know you were coming or I would have made more."

"Did you really just tell Judy on me?" Fiona scoffed, "You just have to ask me nicely."

Bernard was clearly growing frustrated but still kept at it. "Fiona, may I please have some of your cocoa."

"Am I going to get it back?" He nodded at her and Fiona reluctantly handed him the mug.

Bernard treated the delicacy almost the same way Fiona had. He smelled it first then slowly took a sip. The elf that normally had everything under control seemed completely thrown off by the amazing confection he had been given. He did a double take at the cup and smiled down at it. "I'm sorry I doubted you," he said more to the cocoa than to Judy or Fiona.

"Told you," Fiona teased. "Now give it back."

Bernard took a step back from her as he took another sip. "I will when I'm finished."

"That wasn't the deal. I said you could have some and then give it back"

"Who put you in charge?"

Fiona took another step toward him as he backed away and placed her hands on her hips indignantly. "Judy gave that to me."

"Well, I took it from you," he rationalized.

"Seriously? How old are you?!"

A mischievous glint filled his eyes. "Younger than you."

"Oh you're so dead, elf!" Fiona yelled charging toward Bernard. Mischief gone, his eyes went wide with terror at his mistake and he sprinted away from her. The two raced around the kitchen, somehow avoiding the elves hard at work and not managing to topple an eight tier high chocolate cake. Bernard took off out the door of the kitchen with Fiona close behind. The sprite yelled back a 'thank you' and 'see you later' to Judy who smiled a knowing smile and went off to take care of her own business.

*~*~*~*

Fiona hurried out the doors of the factory and into the virtually deserted Elfsburg main square. She had managed to finally get the mug that had caused all the trouble from Bernard after they had chased each other out of the kitchen, down a hallway, around a few offices and through the factory floor. The cocoa had been consumed during the chase but the battle had still raged on. After racing down the stairs and away from the doors, Fiona finally turned around to face her opponent. Bernard stood calmly a few feet from her and had something in his hand. Fiona quickly realized what it was. "You wouldn't dare…" she said but before she could threaten further, the white sphere came hurtling her way. It made contact with her shoulder exploding into a million snowy fragments. Fiona shook her head with a smirk. "Bad move, my friend." She placed the mug on the ground as she collected her own snow into a ball. Standing up, she just barely missed another snowball to the head. "That's it!"

The snowball fight lasted longer than it needed to, as had the rest of the fight so far. Bernard was quicker at making snowballs and his aim was far better than Fiona ever hoped hers would be. Elves were notoriously good at any kind of winter sport and the spring sprite was completely overwhelmed. She luckily had speed on her side and was able to dodge the majority of the barrage. Finally, having run out of options or ideas that would actually lead to Bernard being hit, Fiona decided to charge at him. Taken by surprise, Bernard didn't have enough time to move before Fiona collided with him and the two were sent sprawling to the ground.

Laying flat on her back, staring at the sky, Fiona began to laugh the most genuine laugh she had had in a long time. Bernard, lying next to her, laughed too. After a few seconds, they both quieted down and Fiona wiped tears from her eyes. When she looked up again, Bernard had gotten up off the ground and was standing over her. He offered her a hand. "Truce?"

"Truce," she said, taking his hand and standing up.

"I'm sorry I stole you cocoa," he said his hand still holding hers.

Fiona glanced down at their hands and he quickly let go. "I'm sorry I didn't share."

"I'm sorry I called you old"

"I'm sorry…" Fiona stopped. "Well I really don't have anything else to be sorry about."

"So, I'm the bigger jerk then," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"This time. Next time I'll have to work harder," she grinned, tapping him playfully on the nose. "You should probably get back to work before your boss figures out you've been goofing off all day."

Bernard shrugged. "They won't miss me."

"I find that hard to believe."

"I should go," he admitted, turning from her. A few steps away he bent down to pick the neglected mug out of the snow "I'll take this back to Judy so she doesn't yell at us later," He called back to Fiona.

"Tell her thanks again," Fiona told him. "See you later."

The elf waved over his shoulder to her and hurried up the stairs back into the factory. Fiona smiled to herself thankful for the ridiculous, but much needed distraction. She spun on her toes and nearly sent herself falling over again. When she looked down to see what had tripped her up, her smile fell. Fiona knelt down in the spot where she had fallen during the "battle" a few moments before. Most of the snow was gone, like a snow angel in the shape of her body but more peculiar was the green foliage poking through the white. She brushed aside the snow to reveal thinly spread grass with tiny flowers growing from the ground. Fiona frowned hard at the creation, sure it had something to do with her hay wiring powers and quickly pushed the snow back over it as if to erase its existence. Sighing, Fiona got back to her feet and decided to go check on the greenhouse, hoping that dealing with those problems would take her mind of off potential new ones.

*~*~*~*~*

By the time Fiona finally left the greenhouse, she was completely exhausted. She had been the last to leave for the night but there was still plenty that needed to be done. The day had consisted of hours of moving plants, slowing the growth of others and trying to repair the systems that had been impacted by the overgrowth. The garden staff had worked fervently and Fiona was thankful for such a dedicated workforce. Mother Nature had also helped for most of the day before leaving to tend to other business. She still hadn't determined a cause for the anomaly.

Fiona's muscles screamed at her as she headed inside her home and made her way straight for her bedroom. Before she could collapse on the bed the way she had intended to, she caught sight of the roses still sitting on her desk from the night before. They had opened up more and the blooms stared at her in a beautiful but almost mocking way. If they hadn't meant so much to her she would have thrown them out the window or put them somewhere out of sight.

Instead her eyes settled on the snow globe sitting on the opposite side of the desk from the flowers. A thought flashed through her head and Fiona grabbed the magic snow globe. She went back and sat on the edge of her bed staring at the water and fake snow filled ball. Carol's snow globe was the potential answer to all her problems. It held the power to tell her what she wanted most right now and that thing would be why her powers were going crazy. With one small flick of her wrist she could have the answer she'd been looking for all day. So why was she hesitating?

Fiona took a deep breath raising the snow globe to eye level but as she prepared to shake it and end her internal struggle there was a knock at the door. Her heart leaped into her throat and the snow globe jumped from her hands. She juggled it trying to catch it before it finally landed intact on the bed next to her.

Fiona calmed herself and called out, "Come in." She heard the door open and footsteps head toward her room, but the face in the doorway wasn't one she had expected to see. "Hey, Jack, what's going on?" she greeted him.

Jack shrugged as he made his way into the room, "Thought I'd stop by and see how you were. Heard you've been causing trouble." He raised a judgmental eyebrow, but the smirk that came with it made it look like he was almost proud of her.

She chose to feign ignorance. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, from what I hear, there are enough flowers for the next year and then some. Now I know you're not getting a jump start on your season especially with flowers in pinwheel colors, so what's the deal?" He probed.

"I honestly don't know," Fiona said. After getting the same question from various curious sources all day she had her answers rehearsed, however, she had grown sick of giving them.

Jack sat on the bed next to her. "I heard you had to talk to Mother Nature."

"It wasn't as bad as it could have been. She was sympathetic."

"What was her diagnosis?"

"She seemed just as confused as I was but she thought it might be an extreme emotion kind of thing."

"Like when Cupid and I got into that huge fight and he started shooting hate arrows at people instead of love ones?" Jack grinned.

Fiona laughed at the memory and then felt slightly heartless for it. The whole thing had been a terrible misunderstanding and the clean up had been extremely difficult, but it was nice to realize she wasn't the only one who had off days. "Something like that, except we don't know what it is. I mean I'm not super happy, especially with all this, and I'm not mad at anyone or anything like that so I don't really know."

Jack leaned back on his hands, staring at the ceiling in contemplation of her words. His fingers drummed absentmindedly on the bedspread causing the snow globe to roll toward his hand. He looked at it lazily before picking it up to inspect it further. "What's this?"

"Snow globe," Fiona replied simply.

Jack gave her a pointed look, "I know that, but why's it on your bed. Is this the one Mrs. C gave you? The one we used to find you when the boogie got you?"

"Yeah, it's the one Carol gave me," Fiona said. She had been aware that the globe had been used to find her and that was part of what made her want to utilize its magic for herself.

"Were you hoping it'd help you figure out what's going on?" Fiona nodded almost shamefully. "So why haven't you?"

Jack sat up and threw the globe to Fiona who caught it easily but still didn't look into the swirling glass. She wanted Jack to stop making such accurate observations. Even when he was trying to be genuinely helpful, he could be exceptionally annoying. "Easy answer is I'm a hypocrite and want to see what's inside but at the same time am petrified of what it is or that it won't actually answer my problem."

"No harm in trying right?"

"I guess not, I just… I'm clueless to what's going on and it's kind of scary."

"Or do you know what it is and what you're actually scared of is admitting it."

Fiona looked away from him staring into the middle distance. "I have a guess"

He looked at her expectantly. "Which would be?"

"If I say it out loud I'll potentially incriminate myself if I'm wrong," she replied, cryptically.

"Fi, there's only one 'emotion' I can think of that could have you acting like this and I think you need to face that if it's the case."

Fiona bit her lip. Her eyes suddenly darted down to her lap where she had been subconsciously shaking the snow globe during their conversation. As the snow dissipated an image magically formed inside. The snow globe apparently had a taste for clichés as it displayed a large glowing red heart. Inside the heart were two silhouette. It was clear the emotion in question was exactly what she and Jack had thought it was; Fiona was in love. As Fiona continued to stare at it, the image shifted slightly and the person with her in the vision became clear.

"Something tells me, it's not me you're seeing in there." Fiona's head shot up at his words. Jack's frozen face held a distant sadness as he looked at the snow globe and not at the sprite he was addressing.

"Jack… I…" she started but he held a hand out to stop her.

"Don't," he said simply, "If anything it was my fault for… you know what, never mind." Jack stood up suddenly, "I'm glad you figured out what was wrong Fiona. I probably should get going." He turned and began to make his way out of Fiona's house.

Fiona got up, leaving the snow globe on the bed, and chased after him. "Wait, Jack!" The nymph had reached the front door but stopped in his tracks and spun back toward her. "Jack, I'm so sorry."

Jack's face was still placid and didn't hold the malice Fiona thought it would at a time like this. "You don't have to be. You don't owe me anything and I've seen it coming for a while."

He held his arms out to her as encouragement for a departing hug. Fiona grabbed him tight and felt a slight chill run down her spine as he whispered in her ear, "Besides, you've never looked at me the way you look at him when you think no one's paying attention." Before pulling away, he kissed her lightly on the cheek and then walked out the door and into the night.

 


	15. Ambushes & Secrets

* * *

_I call you my friend and that's all that I knew_  
_Why do I have to pretend to find ways to be around you_  
_And I think I'm losing my mind_  
_Maybe I have been hopelessly blind to your beauty_  
_And you have a sweet sinful smile_  
_I'm in trouble_  
_Cause you turn me upside down and around and around_  
_My feet don't touch the ground_  
_When I'm around you  
_ Around You~ Ingrid Michaelson

* * *

 

Several hours later, Fiona found herself away from her bedroom where a million thoughts screamed at her at once; none of them were particularly coherent or refreshing. After several failed attempts at sleep, with more nightmares she cared not to remember, she had given up on the idea and made her way to the greenhouse. The building was quiet, having been abandoned for quite some time and Fiona could move freely around the various flora without the questions and issues that had plagued her during the day.

She wasn't sure if the quiet was all that soothing though. During normal hours, she had problems to fix, metaphorical fires to put out and, most importantly, enough tasks to busy herself and take her mind off her thoughts. This time of night there was only silence, humidity, and strangely colored plants to keep her company. Fiona flopped down in the chair that sat in front of the computer system with a huff. She placed her head in her hands and rhythmically rubbed at her temples, hoping the action might yield clarity.

Instead, it yielded a voice, one that was decidedly not of the myriad in her head that had been squabbling insensately all day. "Fi? Are you okay?"

The lisping voice of the number two elf gave his identity away almost instantly. Fiona slowly raised her head and spun the swiveling chair around to face him. "I'm fine, Curtis," she said simply, hoping she was giving him her most reassuring smile.

Curtis looked at her sideways. "Are you sure? 'Cause you don't look fine."

"Thanks, that's what every girl wants to hear"

"No, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant you looked stressed out."

Fiona began playing with the black and green frayed edges of the scarf around her neck. She gave up and let the scarf fall back across her green long sleeved v-neck. Why was he even here? The universe seemed to enjoy tormenting her today. She tried to think calmly and stop herself from potentially taking out her emotions on Curtis. He hadn't done anything wrong... yet. He was just worried. "Really, I'm okay. I'm just thinking a lot is all," she sighed.

"Is it about why all your plants went crazy? If you ask me, that seems to be quite the topic of conversation today. The whole factory seems to be talking about it." Leave it to the elf to be up front about the situation.

"Of course they are."

"Well have you figured it out yet? Do you have any clues?"

Fiona didn't even want to continue the line of questioning. If she was vague he might just go away. Instead she said, "If everyone is talking about this, what do  _they_  think my problem is."

"Well," Curtis hesitated. He took a deep breath before listing off what had to be the collective responses of almost every elf in the factory, "A few elves think it's some kind of magic flux and not your fault; others think you just kind of snapped and went nuts but that's really more of a joke. Someone said you might be sick, someone else thought it was some kind of 'weird sprite thing'. The prevailing hypothesis though is that it's an extreme emotion because someone heard Mother Nature tell Santa and Mrs. Claus that that's what she thought it was and it spread pretty quick."

Fiona smirked. "Extreme emotion, eh?"

"Yup, and most of them think it's because you're in love with someone," he said, nonchalantly, as he looked over at a tree covered in mistletoe standing there proving his point.

"Interesting," Fiona said leaning back in the chair and wondering why she found this all so amusing. "Any rumors as to the object of my affections?"

"Most money's on Frost face… er, Jack Frost."

"And why's that?"

Curtis shrugged and made a face looking rather upset at the assumption. "I guess cause he's been around a lot lately and pretty much by your side since you got back. Plus everyone saw you guys at the café last night and just assumed."

Fiona stood up and started walking down the row of plants, musing on the idea for a moment. Curtis followed her, a few paces behind as if giving her physical room to think. "You said  _most_  money," she finally said, "Why the modifier?"

The elf looked guilty for a moment. "Well, there are some of us who don't think that's true. We think, if that is what's happening, you like someone else."

"Who would that be?"

"Judy suggested it and Angelica agreed and so did Abby and Leslie and..." he rambled, refusing to make eye contact with her.

"You're stalling," Fiona said, her arms crossed and her black toed boot tapping impatiently.

Curtis eyed her warily. "We think you love Bernard."

It only made sense that the elves that knew the two best would be the first to realize there was something between them. Fiona was sure that her friends had probably known long before she had actually realized it. It wasn't like the notion hadn't been hinted at before. She continued walking toward the door of the greenhouse opening it to let Curtis out first. "Um… so, you didn't really give me a reaction," he said after he walked past her.

Fiona kept her attention on the door as she locked the house up. She feared that looking at him would betray her more than the words she was about to speak. "I'm not sure how you want me to react… you're not wrong."

She could practically hear the elf smiling. "I'm not?! Then that means you are in love with him." Fiona apprehensively nodded. "Have you told him?"

Fiona looked at him with all seriousness. "Obviously not or I wouldn't be here with you, would I? Plus, why does this all matter so much to you?" Her tone wasn't harsh; she was simply curious.

"Because it's true love and you can't deny that kind of thing." Fiona gave him a perplexed look. She has never taken Curtis as a romantic, hopeless or otherwise. His answer couldn't have been the whole truth. "That and Bernard's like the annoying older brother I never wanted. You make him way less grouchy just by being here. I can't imagine what he'd be like if you told him you loved him!"

Fiona laughed. That answer was much more what she had expected. "Well it's not happening tonight."

"What's not happening tonight?" a small voice asked. Fiona turned around to see Angelica standing a few feet away from her and Curtis.

The sprite resisted rolling her eyes as hard as she wanted to amazed at how Angelica managed to just show up at moments like this. Maybe she was doing it on purpose. Christmas magic and all that. "Nothing, Angie. What are you doing out here?"

"I was just out for a walk and heard you guys talking," the girl said, walking over to them.

"Nothing my foot!" Curtis exclaimed still looking expectantly at Fiona. He turned his gaze to Angelica and said, without hesitation or thought to the consequences, "Fiona's in love with Bernard and won't go tell him."

"Curtis!" Fiona shrieked, amazed at the elf's frankness. She knew she _never_  should have told him anything.

Angelica was suddenly beaming the way she had the night before when she had shown Fiona the flowers. "Is that true, Fi?"

Fiona covered her face with her hands wishing they'd both just go away. Despite herself, she found herself nodding at Angelica's question the same way she had when Curtis had asked.

"I knew it!" The spirit cried spinning on her heels in a small gleeful circle. Fiona looked at her from between her fingers and let out a sigh dropping her hands from her face. "Have you told him yet?!"

"No, she hasn't and she says she won't, which is just ridiculous," Curtis asserted as if Fiona wasn't standing right next to him.

"Well, we'll just have to fix that," Angelica said, grabbing both Fiona and Curtis by the hand. Before Fiona could protest she was caught up in a small whirlwind and Angelica teleported all three of them.

Fiona's head reeled as she pulled away from the Christmas spirit and leaned against a wall for balance. She wasn't a big fan of teleportation travel in general, but hated it more when she wasn't expecting it. When she regained her balance, she looked around trying to figure out where they had landed. Her eyes rested on the cheery wood door just down the hall from her and she audibly groaned. Fiona knew this hallway and that door all too well. It would lead her to the person her two "helpful" friends had decided she needed to talk to. "I'm not going in there."

"Come on, Fiona, it's easy," Angelica said innocently, walking toward the door. "I'm sure he's in there working. I'll even knock for you."

Fiona grabbed the Christmas spirit by the waist and pulled her back away from the door before her hand hit the wood. "I'm sure it's easy, it's just not happening," she said. This was all going perfectly horrid. She wasn't going in Bernard's room, she wasn't telling him how she felt, none of that was going to happen right now.

Angelica crossed her arms in a huff. "Fi, it's obviously bugging you. You two need to talk this out."

Fiona sighed for the millionth time. "It's just not that simple!"

"All right, that's enough," Curtis, who had been uncharacteristically silent since their teleport, said. He grabbed Fiona by the arm, but instead of dragging her kicking and screaming toward Bernard's bedroom, he led her in the other direction. Fiona dumbly followed him, happy to be away from the door and the potential object of her affection that lay on the other side.

Angelica was at her heels and seemed just as confused as Fiona. "Where are you taking her, Curtis?"

"Just trust me," Curtis said. Fiona really didn't trust him all that much especially with the current subject and the way he had been handling it thus far. Knowing her luck he was going to call a big meeting with all the elves and tell them all so that she'd then be forced to tell Bernard or face him finding out through rumors. She quickly dismissed the notion as it was far too late at night to actually manage to gather  _every_  elf. Just as she had begun to grow amused by her brain's current deranged line of reasoning, Curtis came to a stop causing Fiona to nearly plow into him. She looked up to see the entrance to Santa's office.

"Please don't tell me you're going to tell on me to Santa," she laughed, despite herself.

Curtis knocked on the door. "Of course not!"

"Come in," a voice said. It was Carol. Fiona saw where this was going.

Curtis turned the knob and held the door open for Fiona. She was forced to enter as Angelica stood behind her blocking her escape. Carol was standing in the middle of the room and looked perplexed at the small party that entered the office. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Curtis and Angie won't leave me alone!" Fiona blurted out. Maybe she could get them both in trouble and then they'd just go away and stop "helping."

Carol put her hands on her hips, for an instant, channeling her former persona of school principal. "Is this true?"

Angelica and Curtis stood dumbfounded not having expected the turn around. "That's not it at all," Angelica protested.

"Yes, it is," Fiona said.

Curtis scrunched up his face in frustration, his glasses nearly falling off his face. "That's not it and you know it, Fi!" He turned back to Carol, gesturing excessively to get his point across. "We need your help, Mrs. Claus. Fiona's in love with Bernard but she won't tell him."

It was Fiona's turn to gape, again amazed at the elf's ability to say the words she still hadn't actually professed herself. When she found her voice, it came out much harsher than she had intended. "You're so keen on telling everyone else, Curtis, why don't _you_  just tell him?"

Curtis seemed oblivious to the anger in her words and continued, "Well what's the point of that? It'd mean much more from you and further more…"

"Okay, Curtis," Carol said, cutting him off before he could say more and get himself in deeper trouble. "I think I need to talk to Fi alone for a second. Can you two give us a second?" Mrs. Claus began to usher the elf out despite his protests.

"But, I really think we need to get to the bottom of the problem," He babbled on.

Carol had gotten him to the door and luckily, Angelica had followed with no protests. "I promise you both, I will talk it all out with her. Now go! I'm sure there's work you need to be doing."

Curtis opened his mouth again, but closed it promptly and nodded before dejectedly leaving the office. Angelica started to leave too, but ran back over to Fiona and hugged her. "I know you're kind of mad, but we're just trying to make you happy."

"Thank you," Fiona said reluctantly as the Christmas Spirit ran back out of the room.

Carol closed the door and turned to Fiona looking sympathetic but excited at the same time. "So... what was all that about?"

Fiona sighed, flopping onto the couch; the same one she had sat in that morning when she talked to Mother Nature. This meeting would be more pleasant but the subject was something she wanted to talk about even less. "Probably what you assume it was."

"You're in love with Bernard?" she asked walking over toward the couch. Carol was trying to hide the excitement in her voice but wasn't doing a very good job.

Fiona looked down at her black pants hoping the answers she sought would simply appear on her legs. Carol acted like she had asked the most harmless question in the world and Fiona knew she, like the others, was just trying to help. So what if she was in love with him? Why did they all need to be in the middle of it? Why couldn't she just handle it herself?

Finally, she looked up directly into Carol's blue eyes. They weren't dark or cold like many had claimed they use to be; now they were vibrant and joyful. Maybe that was what love did to someone. Fiona ignored the burning sensation behind her own eyes. She wanted to understand that more than anything right now. Before she could form a response, Carol saw something that told her everything she needed to know. She sat down on the couch next to Fiona. "So why haven't you told him?"

Fiona took a deep breath and quietly said, "I can't even say it to myself. How am I suppose tell him?"

"It's hard, Fi, but you just have to do it! It'll be so much better if you do."

"I know that, I really do, I'm just, I'm scared," She finally said, realizing it for the first time.

"Of what exactly?"

"Bernard and I have been friends for so long. I'm afraid that if I say the wrong thing or if I'm wrong about all of this… I can't lose him Carol. I can't do it." The tears that had threatened her earlier made their presence known again, but Fiona resisted.

Carol looked like she might cry as well, but the look was gone as quickly as it had appeared. "While I'm hard pressed to believe that would ever happen," she said, "I understand what you mean. This is obviously weighing on you though and it won't do you any good to keep bottling it up. That's what your plant explosion today showed us."

"I know that."

"So what do _you_  want to do?"

"I want to tell him," Fiona said, shocked that she honestly did. "Just not tonight. The only way I'm going to get past the fear is if I know exactly what I want to say to him and I just need some time."

"Like how long we talking here, another thousand years?" Carol teased.

Fiona smiled a little bit. "No, nothing like that. After Christmas maybe?" Carol's expression changed instantly, her apprehension at the deadline apparent. "It's only two weeks away and I just think it'll be less stressful then. I've already distracted him enough this season, I need to hold off a little. Hopefully but then I'll know what to say to him."

"You could just try, 'I love you'." Carol suggested.

"I'll keep that in mind," Fiona said, standing from the couch and stretching her arms behind her back.

Carol stood as well. "Well, whatever you decide Fi, you know we love you. Whatever happens, you'll be okay and we'll be there for you. We all care about you too much and we don't want you to be so upset!" She pulled the sprite into a warm hug.

"I know, I know and thank you, for everything," Fiona said, hugging her back and not wanting to let go.

"Anytime," Carol smiled. "I'll go tell Angelica and Curtis that it's all squared away and they need to leave you alone."

"Good luck with that," Fiona said, riley. "I'm going to go back to the greenhouse for a bit. I forgot to turn off some of the systems when I was trying to get rid of Curtis earlier."

Carol laughed and opened the door for Fiona. As expected, Curtis and Angelica were right outside looking guilty for trying to eavesdrop on the women. Fiona rolled her eyes and walked past the elf and spirit deciding it was better for Carol to talk to them than for them to pout at her anymore.

*~*~*~*

Back in the greenhouse, Fiona was amazed that her talk with Carol had actually managed to put her in better spirits. As she checked on the plants she hadn't gotten to earlier and tweaked the various systems, she caught herself humming. It wasn't like it was an odd thing for her to be doing, it was something she was actually prone to, but given the circumstance it showed signs of improvement.

Her happy mood was squashed though when she heard the door to the greenhouse open. Apparently, the North Pole was the hardest place in the world for someone to get any privacy. She knew it was Curtis again and she knew he was never going to leave her alone. Fiona stomped down the row of plants, red hair and scarf tails trailing in her wake. She was ready to give the elf a very large piece of her mind.

"Look, Curtis, I told you to leave me alone! I'm done talking about…" She reached the end of the aisle before she could finish her sentence and saw the intruder. "You're not Curtis," She finished dumbly as if the elf before her was unaware of the fact.

"How'd you guess?" Bernard said.

"My keen powers of observation," Fiona retorted, amazed that her brain could form any coherent comeback with everything else burdening it. "I mean, you're taller, you're older, you're less annoying."

"You forgot my good looks," he teased. Fiona had far from forgotten and hoped that the dim lights of the conservatory hid the rose blush that tinged her cheeks. When did she decide to become such a stupid girl around him?

Realizing she hadn't responded to his joke, she quickly said, "Well, I didn't want to state the obvious or inflate your already large ego."

"So..." He said, after a moment, "Should I assume from the fact that you seemed completely shocked by my presence that you didn't send for me?"

Fiona blinked. "What?"

"Curtis and Angelica came into my room a few minutes ago and said you needed to see me about something. I'm guessing they were misinformed?"

Had they been there, Fiona very well might have strangled the elf and spirit or covered them with plants thick enough they couldn't meddle in her affairs again. As it was, she didn't know what to do. The one person she would usually talk to about her biggest problems was the one person causing them. She felt hopeless and lost without him even as he stood in front of her. "No, I didn't send for you. They were in here bugging me earlier and they must have gotten confused." It was a decent half truth.

Bernard nodded, putting a tired hand behind his neck and massaging his obviously tired muscles. "Well, that's annoying."

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I know you're busy right now."

His gaze was far away, "Not your fault." He looked back at her with a reassuring smile and she felt her heart race so fast she thought it might leap from her chest. "Gives me a chance to finally see all the damage you did in here."

"It's not as bad as all that," she said as he came over to her and, together, they slowly walked past the rebellious foliage.

Bernard gave her a pointed look. "This place isn't even this full on your busiest days."

"Touché," Fiona said, looking away sheepishly. "You haven't even seen the really cool ones," She announced with actual excitement over their creation and the potential distraction.

The sprite walked over to a leafy green bush a foot taller than her and carefully pulled apart the branches. She reached inside and soon emerged with an oddly colored poinsettia. Its petals were striped a deep burgundy and green giving it the appearance of a candy cane. Fiona delicately plucked the bloom from the plant and handed it to Bernard for closer inspection. The elf furrowed his eyebrows and stared hard at the anomaly like it would suddenly make sense. "That's definitely something else."

"And that's one of the most normal ones."

"You have been busy haven't you," he winked and tried to hand the flower back to her. Fiona held out a hand to stop him but he persisted. He brushed the crimson locks from the side of her face and placed the stem behind her ear. "You make it look better than I ever could."

Fiona looked down at her hands shyly. She was blushing again and trying to ignore it. Finally, she looked back up at him. "You know, you really need to stop giving me flowers," she said, walking backwards away from him. At the end of the row of plants was a wooden bench and Fiona sat down on it as she continued, "I'm going to start expecting them all the time."

Bernard suddenly looked guilty. "So you found those, huh?"

"Yes, and I never got a chance to thank you."

"It was no big deal."

"Don't be modest. They were beautiful and it meant a lot to me."

He continued to barely accept the compliment as he sat on the bench next to her. "Well, I was going to save them for Christmas actually, but Angie wanted to stop by the café last night and we heard you sing. You did an amazing job."

Fiona pursed her lips. "Thanks, but I was kind of ambushed. Jack made me go up there."

"Now who can't take a compliment?" he teased.

She nudged him playfully with her shoulder, "Well, we're even then. And next time there's a karaoke night, I'm making you come with."

"Why's that?"

"Well, besides the fact that you're one of four elves I know who can carry a non-Christmas tune, I haven't been doing my job as 'Official Head Elf Distracter' well enough this year. I need to make sure you're away from work and having fun"

"I think our excellent boogie journey might have made up for your usual level of distracting me from my work," he said sarcastically. Fiona felt bad for a moment, but realized his face showed no malice. "Plus, you've got other things to worry about." He indicated the overwhelming flora around them.

"Yeah, I guess I am a little focused on the present issues. But, that's usually what you elves do isn't it?"

His eyebrow rose. "What do you mean?"

"Focus on the present." Fiona grinned harder than she should have at such a horrid joke. Apparently, her brain had decided to alleviate her tension by coming up with the most horrendous humor it could muster and actually being proud of the ridiculousness.

Bernard held a hand to his forehead looking like the joke had caused him physical pain. "That was really bad!"

"Thank you."

"Terrible jokes aside, did you make any headway on what the problem is?" There it was: The question she hoped he wouldn't ask.

"I..." she started. Their eyes met for a moment and the same lost feeling swept over her again. Despite the brevity and seemingly inconsequential nature of their glance, Fiona found herself longing to tell him everything. She had her opportunity now and if she didn't take it, she knew she would always regret it. "Actually, I think I might have figured out what's going on."

Bernard seemed surprised she hadn't mentioned that fact earlier. "You did?"

"It's kind of complicated," It was really only as complicated as she was making it, she chided herself. "But I think it really stems from our 'excellent boogie journey' as you called it."

The elf nodded. "Did that just mess with your powers?"

"No, I mean, it did, but it's... that whole adventure made me start reprioritizing things in my life. Kind of made me see what's most important to me. Like, in the last week, I've realized just how much I love it up here at the Pole."

"Go on," he pressed.

Fiona took a deep breath. This wasn't the direction she had foreseen this conversation going. She hoped that by the time she got through this tangent she'd have a good way to segue and tell him what she really needed to. "Well, even though I'm down south for most of the year and have familiar place and friends and all that, the only time I feel like I'm really at home is when I'm up here. I love the atmosphere and the perpetual happiness and good will. I don't find that anywhere else but up here. Everyone here is like family to me and it's the only place I can really be myself."

Bernard grinned at her. "I didn't realize you felt that way. I remember when you used to hate coming up here." Fiona remembered that time too. When had she started to love spending the holidays up North? It was probably the same time she decided she felt this way about him. How long had she been subconsciously pining for him? This was all his fault and he didn't even know what was happening. "So you love the North Pole... is that why everything's all leafy suddenly?"

"Partially," she sighed as a voice in her head screamed at her just to tell him. "I was talking to Jack a couple hours ago and we, we figured out that it's not just the North Pole I'm in love with..."

"It's okay, Fi. I understand."

Fiona's heart raced as she looked up at him, not noticing how far his face had fallen with her comment. "You do?"

"Yes, and look, Fiona, all I want is for you to be happy. If that means you want to be with Jack then…"

"You think I'm… oh wow." Fiona's head reeled. Things had inexplicably gone the complete opposite direction of the way they were supposed to. "I, no, I mean," she sputtered as she stood up and started pacing. He wasn't supposed to take it that way. She wanted him to know intuitively what she meant and stop her from saying the words she still couldn't get out. Bernard's expression was so heartbreakingly confused she couldn't stand it.

Fiona centered herself and quickly prayed to every deity she could think of for the proper words and strength. "I'm not in love with Jack. I never have been. When I talked to him earlier, he understood what was really going on and he, he let me go." She again paused to collect her thoughts. He was still looking at her in confusion and Fiona began nervously rubbing her hands together in anticipation of her next words. This was it. This would change everything.

"It's that re-prioritizing thing I was talking about. I was as close as I've ever come to never waking up again and I realized that there are a lot of wonderful  people in my life, but there's only one that's the most important to me." She took a deep breath unable to look at him. "B, you've always been there for me no matter what. You're the reason I come up here every year when I could go anywhere else with a warm climate. You're my best friend and, I think, I've taken advantage of that." She did her best to ignore the tears that had slowly started trickling down her cheeks. "The truth is, I'm in love with you, Bernard, and I have been for a long time. I just, finally, decided to admit it. And," she said, finally wiping tears from her face, "I didn't mean to start crying. I'm sorry." She covered her face and walked away from him. Fiona stopped and took a deep breath, her entire body shaking, but her heart decidedly lighter.

"You don't mean that, do you?" he said and her heart sank. Fiona spun on her heels to face him fresh tears threatening her turquoise eyes. Bernard was only a few steps away from her. His arms were folded across his chest but he was smiling. It was an endearing, hopeful smile she had never seen him wear before. "You're not sorry for what you said at all."

Fiona's lip quivered before she blurted out, "No! I'm sorry I'm crying. You know I don't do that. I meant everything else or else I wouldn't be like this. I just…"

She was cut off, however, as he closed the space between them and his lips were suddenly against hers. Fiona tensed for an instant before closing her eyes and falling completely and hopelessly into the kiss. It lasted mere seconds but, as is want to happen in situations such as these, time seemed to stop moving. The kiss was complex and simple, sweet and passionate, new and familiar. The moment was filled with millions of clichés. Clichés of the first day of spring or the first snow of winter; of opening Christmas gifts and flowers bursting into bloom. It was neither of their first kisses, but it was their first kiss together and it had an innocence that only a kiss such as that could contain. Most of all, it was a physical manifestation of the love and longing that had been welling up between them for far too many years.

They broke away after a moment and Fiona's heart ached as it reached to pull him back close. There was a still silence before Bernard finally spoke, "I've always loved you, Fiona. I just needed you to figure it out."

Fiona threw her arms around him, hugging him fiercely and sobbing openly onto his shoulder. He held her close and gently stroked her hair until she finally calmed down. The sprite sniffed loudly and pulled away from him enough that she could see his face. That new smile was still there and she mentally laid claim to it, hoping he would never show it to anyone else. "Sorry about your shirt," she said indicating the damp tear soaked burgundy fabric.

"I think I can forgive you this once."

"Would this help?" She said as she locked her fingers around his neck and pulled him closer to her. Their lips caught and the same magic that had swept through them moments ago consumed them again. This time there was much more fire to their actions; a warm, smoldering sensation that enveloped them. The world was as it should be. There was Bernard and Fiona and that was all that mattered anymore.

Fiona pulled away reluctantly, her mind lingering on both the kiss and the feel of his hands on her waist. "I guess that'll work," Bernard teased and the sprite smiled up at him.

"So, what does this all mean?" she asked, still holding on to him for fear if she let go he'd simply disappear and none of it would be real.

"You mean us finally professing the feelings we've had for who knows how long?" His eyebrow rose as he considered the question. Fiona nodded. "Well it means I can do this whenever I want to," he said quickly kissing her again. "And not be worried how you'll react."

Fiona giggled. "That is a plus, but I meant, are we dating? Are we boyfriend and girlfriend?" The labels seemed odd at their age, but the question would come up and since she'd put everything else off for so long, it couldn't hurt to ask.

"Like, 'what are we going to tell people when they ask?' Why do we have to tell them anything?"

" _Because_  they'll ask"

"Why's it their business?"

"Oh, so touchy about it."

"You know as well as I do all we're going to get is 'I told you so' for the next century."

It was true; there had been too many people that had been trying to get the elf and sprite together over the course of their entire friendship. They were sure to give them as much flack as possible as soon as everyone knew. "Well, what do you propose we do?" Fiona asked.

"We could just not tell them," he suggested with a sly smile.

"I like that plan, but you're in charge of getting Curtis and Angie off my back."

"Done and done."

"Fine then, we'll keep our love a secret" Fiona said, gently stroking the side of his face with the back of her hand. "But, I give it three days," She winked before guiding his face toward hers and kissing him again simply because she finally could.


	16. Revelations & Eves

* * *

_People are talkin', talking' bout people_  
 _I hear them whisper, you won't believe it_  
 _They think we're lovers kept under cover_  
 _I just ignore it but they keep sayin'_  
 _We laugh just a little too loud_  
 _Stand just a little too close_  
 _We stare just a little too long_  
 _Maybe they're seeing something we don't darlin'  
_ Something to Talk About~ Bonnie Raitt

* * *

 

As it turned out, Fiona's prediction was only off by a few hours. Exactly three days after their encounter in the greenhouse, the rest of the factory was made aware of the current state of Fiona and Bernard's relationship. The entire ordeal had been slow at first.

Fiona had simply gone to the wrapping room to pick up some supplies. The lead elf of the department, Ally, had handed her a large bag teaming with all colors of bows, ribbons and other accoutrements for Fiona to use to liven up the plants that would be staying at the Pole. The oddly colored plants wouldn't necessarily pass in the mortal world, but Carol had decided she wanted to use some of them for the annual holiday party that she threw once all the work in the factory was done. The project was the last main task the garden department had before they were officially finished for the season and a week early at that. As thanks for the decorations, Fiona had promised Ally that she would come back as her work was done to help out. The wrapping room always had extra work pile on them at the end of the season as they were the last stop before the presents were officially deemed sleigh worthy so Fiona generally sent her team there to help once they were done.

With a final jab about Ally only wanting her so she could reach the supplies on the high shelves, Fiona left the wrapping room just as Bernard made his way in. They passed through the doorway innocently enough smiling and saying quick "hellos". However, both made the mistake of looking back over their shoulders at the other. It hadn't been a simultaneous action; no overt lingering eye contact was made but it had happened just the same. Fiona turned away with a stupid smile on her face and bit her lip to try to hide it.

Then she heard a voice over her shoulder call her name. The sprite spun on her heels in time to see Judy heading her direction. Judy began with small talk of a harmless fashion, the two discussing plants and pastries respectively, until the elf asked what she had actually started the conversation for. "So," she said. "I couldn't help but notice that look you gave Bernard."

Fiona didn't even blink. "What are you talking about?"

Judy looked at her knowingly. "Oh come on, Fi, that was a look of pure pining."

"And you're an expert on said things?" Fiona laughed.

"Fi, I haven't been around as long as you, but I've been around long enough to know what different looks mean."

"And long enough to read too much into said things," Fiona said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get this stuff to the greenhouse."

Before Judy could respond Fiona took off but made sure she wasn't going fast enough to look like she was fleeing. She was in fact fleeing, but Judy didn't need to know that. The sprite cursed the fact that one little look had given them away after they had tried fairly hard not to get caught. It really was a stupid game and she really should have told Judy the truth, but it had been strangely fun to "sneak around."

Fiona was soon within the protective walls of the greenhouse and quickly pushed the Judy matter from her head. She took her bag of goodies from wrapping to Leslie and the two quickly figured out what decorations went with what plants. Since Christmas Eve was still some time away and the last preparations would only take half a day at the longest, Fiona decided to let everyone go home early.

After locking up the greenhouse, she and Leslie walked together toward their respective abodes. They were barely twenty feet from the greenhouse when Fiona once again heard someone call out her name. When she turned this time, it was Bernard looking frantic and racing toward her with impressive speed. He reached the two girls in record time and tried not to look as winded as he was. "What's going on, B?"

"I," he started then looked at Leslie as if just noticing she was there. "I need to talk to you about something."

Leslie took the hint and excused herself bidding them both "goodnight." Once she was gone, Fiona looked at Bernard expectantly. "Not here," he said. He grabbed her hand and led her the short distance up the street to her house.

Once inside, Fiona sat down on the couch and watched as Bernard began methodically pacing. Finally, her curiosity overtook her. "All right, what the heck happened that's got you in such a tizzy?"

Bernard stopped pacing for a moment as if her word choice had put a blockage in his path then started back up again. "Everyone knows! I don't know how they know, but they know!"

"Everyone know what?" Fiona asked.

"About us! About you and me being together. Judy came up to me when I was leaving wrapping and said she had talked to Curtis about it and he told her what was going on and she's pretty sure all the kitchen elves heard the conversation which means everyone else knows by now."

"Is that all?" Fiona said, relieved. "For a second I thought it was a big deal"

Bernard stopped pacing again. "This is a big deal!"

"Well, not really," She said, standing up and walking toward him.

"But I just don't know how they know or why or… I mean we were _so_ careful."

Fiona put her hands on his shoulders stopping him before he could begin pacing again. "Bernard, relax. They were going to find out eventually. I told you you have gossipy elves. Trust me, it's really not a problem. Plus, the important people are the ones that needed to know and since Santa already does…"

At her words, Bernard gulped and looked away. "You did tell Scott didn't you?"

The elf laughed nervously. "Not exactly. I mean, I meant to but things kept coming up."

"Well, then, we need to tell him right now!" she said, grabbing his hand this time and pulling him out of the house. "If he finds it out second hand you're going to be in for even more awkwardness."

Bernard didn't argue and instead let her drag him through the Elfsburg streets and into the factory. He wasn't quite sure why he let her lead him on such a frivolous task when he had so many other things he needed to be doing before Christmas, but he followed regardless. They made a b-line through the factory ignoring any elf that might possibly ask about the nature of their relationship and soon arrived at Santa's office; the scene of too many random events lately. Fiona pulled Bernard in front of her and gently pushed him forward in order to make him enter first and to block his escape route.

Bernard rolled his eyes and knocked on the door before opening it and entering the office. A few feet away sitting at a large wooden desk behind a mountain of paper work, was the stressed but smiling face of Santa. He looked almost relieved when he saw the head elf. "Bernard, there you are!"

As Santa pulled Bernard into a discussion about the ratios of toy trucks to toy cars being distributed for the year, the elf tried to ignore the eye roll Fiona gave him before she went over to talk to Carol. He hadn't been trying to avoid the initial subject matter, but he hadn't quite learned how to put anything before work. Bernard perused the figures Santa had been struggling with, quickly found the small error that was messing up all the totals and began fixing it. As he did, a girlish squeal filled the room causing his pen to streak across the page. Bernard and Santa looked over at the source of the noise. On the other side of the room, Carol was grinning from ear to ear as Fiona covered her face with her hands. Scott gave Bernard a puzzled look before walking over toward the women. "Should I even ask what all this is about?" he said.

Fiona looked away from him sheepishly. "It's nothing, hun," Carol said, gently adjusting her husbands red suspenders. "Girl talk."

Scott's eyebrow rose suggesting he didn't believe a word and required a better explanation. Bernard walked over to the three looking guilty. "I can explain, sir," he said, knowing that the news still needed to come from him. All three pairs of eyes fell on the elf and he gulped subconsciously. "I'm guessing Fiona told Mrs. Claus what we had actually come in here to tell you."

"Which is?"

Bernard collected himself again, looked at Fiona and then continued, "Sir, Fiona and I have officially started dating and we thought you should know."

Santa gave a formal nod before a smile as big as the one Carol had donned a few moments earlier captured his face. "Well, it's about time," he said.

"So, you're all right with it?" Bernard asked, though he wasn't sure why.

"Of course I am!" Scott said then added jokingly. "As long as it won't interfere with your work."

Fiona smirked, "I promise I'll be on my best behavior until Christmas is over."

There was a quick knock before the door to the office opened again this time revealing Curtis. When he set eyes on Bernard and Fiona he smiled but also looked leery. "Am I interrupting anything?"

Fiona's demeanor did a 180 and she sent an impressive glare toward the number two elf. "Remind me never to tell you anything,  _ever_!"

"So, it's true! You two are together! I knew it, I told them…" he spouted on, oblivious to the potential doom he was getting himself closer to.

"Not the point, Curtis," Bernard said, trying to stop the elf before he really did get hurt.

Fiona took a deep breath. "You know what? I'm just going to go. You guys have work to do." She grabbed Bernard's hand quickly and squeezed it to say goodbye without creating a scene and headed for the door.

Before she got there though, she heard Carol whisper harshly and then call out, "Bernard will walk you home, Fi." She turned around as Bernard walked toward her looking completely perplexed. He opened the door for her and they left the office.

"What was that?" Fiona asked after he closed the door.

"She said I wasn't allowed to let you walk home alone."

"She'll make a gentleman of you yet," the sprite teased taking his hand and heading down the hallway.

Again they made their through the toy factory. Though most of the elves were busy with pressing projects, several were able to steal looks at the couple still not sure if they were, in fact, a couple. They reached the top of the stairs and continued toward the door when a voice called out Bernard's name. The elf turned around, dropping Fiona's hand and walking over to the railing. "Are you and Fi finally together?" The elf who had shouted at his boss, asked without much hesitation. The workers around him looked between each other and then up at the balcony expectantly.

Bernard looked down at them all, his expression unchanging. He looked every bit the professional he always was despite the awkward question. "That's not your concern right now, Richie. I suggest you get back to concentrating on your work."

He turned back around and started for the door but before he could, Fiona hurried past him and leaned over the railing. "The short answer is, yes," she told the congregation before spinning around and joining Bernard. The elf's jaw was on the ground, but even more so at the cheer that erupted from the factory floor. It hadn't been a reaction either of them had anticipated and Fiona couldn't contain her laughter as they walked through the double doors and out of the factory.

*~*~*~*

The few days that remained until Christmas went by quickly but peacefully. The elves toiled away feverishly hoping to meet the looming deadline awaiting them. On the eve of Christmas Eve, everything was still on schedule and running smoothly by some random miracle. The workshop was a chaotic ballet that everyone luckily knew their places in. The reindeer were prepped, the sleigh was being loaded, the kitchen smelled of cakes and pies, Santa was practicing his "ho ho ho's" and everyone still had a bounce in their steps.

As she had promised, Fiona and several of her garden elves were in the wrapping room helping the exceptionally busy department. The room was a flurry of colored paper, sparkling bows and curly ribbons. Fiona sat at an exorbitantly large table elbow deep in tissue paper. She had been wrapping for five hours now and, with several nasty paper cuts besmirching her hands, she was beginning to wonder how the elves of the department managed to do this all year long. Another bag of presents was ready to head to the sorting room and Fiona jumped at the chance to deliver them, happy for a change of pace.

The path to the other department was not a simple one and potentially one of the most dangerous one could journey. If every action was not well considered and every other individual running around not accounted for, something could go horridly wrong. Elves scurried to and fro with a madcap disorganized organization that boggled the mind. Fiona, large bag of toys slung over her shoulder, ducked, jumped, dodged, weaved and slid past the various obstacles.

When she finally thought she was safe, she turned around and ran smack into Bernard sending them both sprawling across the floor. The toys landed with a thud and paperwork flew up into the air. Bernard looked angry, ready to bite the head off of the unfortunate elf that hadn't been to enough rehearsals to know his path by heart. His expression softened, however, when he saw Fiona hurriedly grabbing the papers she had knocked from his hands. "I'm so sorry," she gushed.

Bernard chuckled, a reaction Fiona hadn't been expecting, as he stood up and offered her a hand. "Were you helping in wrapping?" Fiona nodded motioning toward her fallen bag of finished toys. Bernard smiled wider. "You know I love you for helping, right?"

"Okay…" Fiona said, giving him a sideways look. She had never seen him so happy or calm this close to the big day. It was almost refreshing.

"You're work is done. You don't have to help. But you do anyway and I appreciate it more than you know," He said, pulling her close to him. "I've never gotten to tell you that before."

"You're nuts," she laughed before he kissed her. She broke away, marveling at the fact that she needed to be the level headed one. "I should let you get back to work. I need to deliver these to sorting and you need to be all in charge and instilling fear or whatever it is you do Christmas Eve eve."

She kissed him again quickly on the cheek and continued on her way. Fiona couldn't help smiling to herself wondering how long he had been waiting to do something like that. If the kiss was any indication, it could have been centuries. Before getting too lost in her thoughts and running into someone else, she arrived in the sorting room. The department was basically a makeshift department that was usually constructed a week or so before Christmas and took over one of the factory's unused rooms. The elves were among some of the oldest and most respected and were in charge of making sure every present was accounted for. While inspecting the gifts was important, they mostly checked to see that every good child in the world would have a present come Christmas morning. Fiona handed off her bag of toys to an elf only a few inches taller than it. She then found the higher up elves and gave them her paperwork, promising another delivery of presents shortly.

Job done, Fiona left the room and just outside the door managed to run into Jack Frost. "Jack?" she said, pushing away from his blue pinstripes. "What are you doing here?" Considering the finality of the goodbye in their last conversation, she hadn't expected to see the winter nymph until at least after the season.

Jack smiled coolly at her. "I can't stop by for the holidays?" Fiona's eyebrows were still furrowed and she looked at him pointedly. "Look, you don't think I'm trying to cause mischief this close to Christmas do you?"

"Do I even have to acknowledge that ridiculous question with an answer?" She laughed, walking past him back toward wrapping.

Jack was at her heels. "You are so mean to me. You're on the Frostmas naughty list for sure."

Fiona bit back a smile. "Well, like you say, 'naughty list people have more fun'"

"I don't think your Boy Scout boyfriend would be okay with that"

"Stop it, Jack," she warned.

"How is he by the way?" Jack pressed on. "Neglecting you because he's married to his job?"

Fiona stopped in her tracks. She was so close to the wrapping room she should have just ignored him and retreated inside. The way things had been left earlier, she had thought Jack would be much better about the whole situation. She knew him well enough though that she should have known better. "He's just fine, for your information," she said. "And just because you're completely laissez faire about your duties, doesn't mean the rest of us get to be."

If Jack was phased he didn't show it. "Well, that's fantastic. In the mean time, is there anything I can do to help with preparation? I need to see Mother Nature about something and I know she won't be here until tomorrow evening. I might as well make myself useful."

Fiona sighed. "I don't know if wrapping will let you help after your sabotage attempt in November, but I can try to convince them," She said, continuing on to the busy department. Before reaching the doorway, she stopped in her tracks. "That's weird…"

"What is?" Jack asked over her shoulder.

"When I left, this door was open."

"Why's that a problem?"

"Well, everyone's been coming and going all day and it hasn't been closed since Monday. It just seems strange."

"The phantom closing door," Jack joked.

Fiona rolled her eyes and carefully opened the door. "I'm serious, Jack. It's strange…" she trailed off as she looked around. Fiona and Jack walked further inside, their footsteps echoing off the room's empty walls. The elves that had been toiling away were all gone. Presents were left half wrapped as if everyone had cleared out quickly.

"I thought you said you guys are always busy in here," Jack said.

Fiona felt her heart in her throat, something was terribly wrong. "We need to go find Santa or Bernard. Right now!"

Jack didn't retort and led the way back out of the room. He stepped through the threshold and suddenly the door slammed shut behind him leaving Fiona inside. Fiona pulled at the doorknob. "Jack, this isn't funny."

She could hear Jack on the other side, also trying to open the door. "I didn't do it," He called back.

Fiona began pulling at the handle more frantically. "Seriously, let me out of here!"

A voice behind Fiona spoke and she felt a sickening chill down her spine, "I assure you, he didn't do it."

She didn't turn around; instead Fiona continued desperately pulling at the door, calling out to Jack, telling him to get help. Suddenly, she was being pulled backwards by an invisible force. She let out a scream until she finally stopped and was dropped hard against the ground. Gasping, Fiona was pulled back up to her feet by the same force. Boots clicked against the ground as a sulfuric smell assaulted her senses. Two green eyes fixed on her, full of hatred, a lust for power and a want for revenge.

"Hello Fiona. I've missed you," The boogie man said, grinning evilly.


	17. Ultimatums & Sacrifices

* * *

_The Warmth of Your Love's_ _Like the Warmth of the Sun_  
_And This Will Be Our Year_  
 _Took a Long Time to Com._  
 _Don't Let Go of My Hand Now the Darkness is Gone_  
 _And This Will Be Our Year,_  
 _Took a Long Time to Come._

This Will Be Our Year~ Ok Go

* * *

Jack raced down the halls of the factory as fast as his long legs could carry him. He blew past elves of all sizes and status paying only enough attention as to not trip over them as he focused on the problem at hand. Fiona's scream was still ringing in his ears and it would haunt him far longer than he would ever admit. She was in trouble and, as much as it killed him to admit it, Jack had to find Bernard. The elf in question was nowhere to be found. Jack laughed bitterly at the idea that he always seemed to be around until he would actually be useful. Finally, he found the head elf in the stuffing room tinkering with a machine that had been spewing white fluff. Jack took a breath to calm himself before he spoke, "Bernard, I need to talk to you." It was far too generic for the pressing matter at hand, but Jack didn't want to cause panic and more importantly didn't want to admit he needed to elf's help.

Bernard looked up from his work and frowned. "What are you doing here?"

"That doesn't matter. It's Fiona." Bernard's eyes narrowed on the winter sprite, not happy with Jack talking about her. Jack tried not to shrink under the glare understanding why many elves trembled in the presence of their boss. The elf calmly walked around the machine, took Jack by the arm and led him away from the other workers.

"What about her?" he hissed.

Jack pulled himself free and adjusted his suit. "Look, I don't know what happened, I was just there and it's not my fault for once."

"What happened?"

"I think something has her."

Bernard didn't need to hear any more. He took off like a shot with Jack following. "Where is she?" Bernard called.

"Wrapping," Jack replied and the two hurried off to save their friend.

*~*~*~*

In the aforementioned wrapping room, Fiona's predicament hadn't gotten any better. She was completely immobilized, standing in the center of the wrapping room, with her arms pinned to her sides. The boogie man, who should have still been stuck in his stone prison, was pacing a circle around her. He was free not imprisoned like he should have where the Council could watch him. All of Fiona's recent nightmare made sense now; they were premonitions. The boogie man's eyes still stared at her, piercing through any confidence she could muster.

"So, are you planning on doing anything," she finally asked, "or are you just going to stare at me like I'm dinner?"

Terrance laughed a sinister mirthless laugh. "Really, you are too much." Fiona wasn't sure if it was compliment or not but he continued, "Tell me, how have things been with you since I left."

Any response Fiona could dream up quickly disappeared. It was a question a friend or an acquaintance might ask if they had been gone for a long time. Not one a boogie man would ask the spring sprite who had imprisoned him. "Fine, I guess… how did you escape?!"

"So quick to rush to these things," he admonished her. "Here I just wanted to catch up with you. Oh well. If you must know, this is all that Frost's fault."

"He wouldn't," Fiona said. Jack was cold and manipulative and wanted nothing more than to take over Christmas, but Fiona knew in her heart he would never sink so low as to unleashing a boogie. Especially the one that had already cause them all so much grief.

"I admit, it was inadvertent." Fiona breathed a sigh of relief. "Really, it was all fates doing. Your friend planned to pass off the stone, you so lovingly placed me in, to that peach Mother Nature, but, as luck would have it, he managed to drop it without even realizing it."

"That doesn't explain how you…"

"IF you'll let me finish," he thundered, "He lost the stone, but someone else found me. Luckily that person had plenty of magic for me to latch onto and set myself free with."

Fiona didn't want to ask the follow up question. Terrance was still smiling at her as if daring her to try. There wasn't much of a choice. "Who did you zap?"

"See for yourself," he said, turning his hand counter-clockwise. As he did, Fiona spun to her left. Her eyes fell on the ground between two work stations. All that was there was a pile of glistening snow-like fabric and long blonde hair but Fiona recognized it immediately. Strangely, Terrance let go of his magical hold on her and allowed Fiona to rush to the fallen Christmas Spirit's side. Angelica looked peaceful despite the ordeal she had been through. Gently, Fiona stoked the Christmas Spirit's golden hair. "I'm so sorry, Angie," she whispered.

"She's perfectly all right," she heard Terrance say. "I only took enough from her to free myself. Being so close to the holiday, your friend should spring back fairly quickly." Fiona tried to block out his words and focus on Angelica. Next to the girl's head was the shard of stone the Boogie Man had been trapped in until moments ago. Grabbing it, Fiona shoved it into her pocket and stood up. She slowly balled her hands into fists at her side digging her fingernails into her palms. Terrance kept talking, "With all this Christmas nonsense I can keep using all these creatures for an unbelievably long amount of time. I don't know why I didn't think of it before."

Without warning, Fiona turned and ran straight for the boogie man. She landed one swift blow to his chin before he waved his hand and sent her flying back against the far wall. "I told you before, girl, that I don't want to hurt you. However, when you have outbursts like that, you force my hand." He flicked his wrist again and threw her down hard against the ground.

Before he could do any further damage, the doors to the room started shaking as someone on the other side pulled at them. "I think we have company." Terrance grinned, pulling Fiona back up to her feet and dragging her toward the doorway.

Fiona continued to struggle though she knew the futility of it. She didn't know what Terrance's next move would be but it didn't promise to be a good one. A foot away from the threshold, he stopped and waved his hand opening the door. On the other side, Bernard and Jack stood side by side looking shocked at the self opening door. Their faces simultaneously shifted to anger when they saw the boogie man. "Oh good, the cavalries here. Though I must say, you're pretty much as disappointing as last time." Bernard started toward Terrance rage in his eyes, but was blocked by an invisible barrier. "Not too quickly," Terrance taunted. "We'll have plenty of time to fuss and fight but right now, my elfin friend, I need you to go fetch your boss."

"Why should I?" Bernard snarled. He was still glaring at the boogie man, gaze only wavering to make sure Fiona was still alright.

"You obviously want to help your friend here and, since that's the case, I'm not even willing to negotiation until I see the big man."

Bernard thought for a moment but he knew he only had one option. "All right," He conceded, "But you have to promise to keep her safe until we get back."

Terrance held his hand up. "I promise she will be safe. You may not trust me, but I'm a boogie of my word. Now shoo."

With that, he waved his hand toward the door slamming it shut. Bernard grabbed at the handle as he helplessly watched Fiona disappear on the other side again. He wasn't going to lose her; that wasn't an option. He let go of the door and turned to Jack. The winter sprite met his gaze and nodded before they took off to find Santa.

Still incapacitated, all Fiona could do was watch with wide eyes as she was cut off from Bernard and Jack again. Terrance turned back to her rubbing his hands together. "Well, that went according to plan."

"So, I know I'm your captive and all that and not really suppose to be in on the details of your evil plan, but what exactly are you trying to do here?" Fiona asked, wondering if the approach would really work.

Terrance almost looked delighted that she had asked. "It really is a brilliant plan," he said, will all the ego she had expected him to have, "You see, as I said, everyone around here has so much magic because of the holiday, but that Santa fellow has the most and I plan to hit him first. The others will surely follow. I mean, I've been ousted as a boogie already, there's no sense in going after small fries anymore. Once I'm done with that, we'll see how I feel." The last part was said with an almost carefree air, as if having the power was all he needed and the rest would simply fall into place

"I guess that's not too bad."

"Oh, there is one other thing I want to try though," he said. "When I was in that spirit girl's head I saw something I found quite interesting."

"Which would be…?"

"I believe it was called the Universal Pantogram. Have you heard of it?"

Fiona knew exactly the machine he spoke of. It was Curtis's pride and joy; designed to help the elves with faster production and responsible for the fabled toy Santa. "Why would you want to know about that?"

Terrance shrugged, but didn't answer. "I suppose you know where it is?" Fiona looked away from him. "I  _can_  do this the hard way." He grabbed the sprite's wrist and she cried out as he took the information from her. "Interesting… come along." Terrance grabbed the clothed part of her arm as not to harm her further and teleported them out of the wrapping room.

When they reappeared, Terrance and Fiona were outside of the Research and Development Department of the factory. "If you'd be so kind as to go in there and get all those pesky elves out of my way, I would be much obliged." Terrance said, releasing Fiona from his magical hold.

Fiona thought for a moment of running away as fast as her legs could carry her, but she was sure she would be caught and the penalty would probably be worse than anything that had been doled out so far. She instead shot a nasty glare at Terrance and walked into the department.

Inside, she found Curtis and a handful of elves working away on various experiments and last minute projects before the big day. She quickly hurried over to the number two elf who greeted her warmly. Fiona pulled him aside and told him she needed him to clear everyone from the room as quickly as possible. Curtis furrowed his eyebrow at her, but, with a little more coaxing, he was convinced to move everyone out. The elves all left the room looking confused but thankful for a break.

"What's going on, Fi?" Curtis asked, once the others had left.

"Curtis, I really don't have time for this. You need to go too."

"Seriously, you look worried! What's happening?

Fiona closed her eyes in frustration. "Look, I can't explain, I just…" she opened her eyes back up to finish her sentence, but where Curtis had been, Terrance now stood. Curtis was lying on the ground at the boogie man's feet unconscious.

Fiona dropped to the elf's side. "What did you do that for?!" Fiona shouted up at Terrance.

Terrance absentmindedly examined his fingernails. "It was the quickest way to shut him up. He _is_  awfully annoying."

"Of course he's annoying!" Fiona shot back, "But there are more civil ways to go about things." Why she was trying to teach the Boogie Man manners was beyond her at this point. All she knew was matching wits with him was what was potentially keeping her alive at this point.

Once again, Terrance seemed amused as he casually strolled over to the Pantogram. The machine was incredibly large consisting of a glass processing tube with two conveyer belts on opposite sides of it. Terrance stopped in front of the control panel running his hands over the various smooth buttons. He looked over to Fiona expectantly and she reluctantly left Curtis's side. Fiona walked closer to the machine, happy to be out of the boogie's control. "There," she said, "It's all yours. What are you going to do with it?"

"From what I've gathered, the machine can both increase size and create copies of things. I figure by putting myself through it I can create a large unstoppable army that will help me take over the world," Terrance explained, not taking his eyes off the Pantogram.

"That's actually not a horrible plan."

"I'm glad you like it. Now, while we wait for our guests of honor, you're going to turn it on."

Fiona shook her head. "I don't know how to work it."

"I don't really have time for this," Terrance said, rolling his eyes. He grabbed for her wrist and zapped her for the information. His eyes widened. "You really don't know!"

"I told you I didn't," Fiona replied harshly, holding her arm protectively and biting back her pain. "Why didn't you just get it when you attacked Curtis?"

"Because he has to be thinking about it when I touch him for me to be able to take the knowledge," Terrance groaned, running a hand down his face. "We'll just have to hope your other friends know more than you about it."

"Can I ask you something else?" Fiona said, walking around the room, glancing nonchalantly at the half finished projects that littered the closest work bench.

"I suppose."

Fiona picked up a small robot toy with sad binocular like eyes and a square yellow body. "Why are you keeping me around?"

"I've told you before, dear, I find you interesting."

"That still doesn't explain anything," she said, replacing the toy on the table and walking closer to him.

"Do you really need an explanation, Fiona?" he asked, reaching out and running his fingers through loose strands of her red hair. She pulled her head back in repulsion and he grinned. "Can't you see that if you would just succumb to me you could have everything you could possibly want?"

Fiona repressed a shudder. "And what could you possibly know of what I want?"

"I know what everyone wants." He said, pushing her back toward the control panel getting dangerously close to her and whispering in her ear, "Power." He took a step back. "If you join me you can have everything you want, Fiona. I know the Council doesn't care about you. I know you don't have the fame or respect you deserve. You can make them respect you if you join me. You can be a goddess!"

With that he waved his hand past her clothing transforming it into a long sparkling emerald and silver dress. The sleeves were long, the neckline plunged low and the fabric flowed ethereally around her. Fiona tried not to gasp at the effect amazed at the boogie man's taste in wardrobe. "First of all, I don't appreciate you taking liberties with my outfit and second of all there are more important things than power."

"What 'things' are you referring to," he scoffed, "Something cliché like love?" Fiona glowered at him and he smirked. "You really are naïve, sweetheart."

As she started to retort, the doors to the R&D department opened up revealing Bernard, Jack and Santa. They rushed toward the villain but were stopped by the same barrier he had used to hinder them before.

Terrance grabbed Fiona by the arm pulling her toward the would-be rescuers. "Well, it seems you  _can_  follow directions. I'm so proud of you."

"You said you wanted me and I'm here, now let Fiona go!" Santa yelled.

"Why is everyone around here so quick to jump the gun? First thing's first: which of you knows how to work that thing?" he said, jabbing a thumb toward the pantogram.

The three men looked between each other before Santa stepped forward. "I can tell you how to work it, but only if..."

"I set her free, I got that earlier," Terrance said shaking his head. "It's not that simple. She'll be the one turning it on." He said, pushing Fiona back toward the machine. "How am I to know you won't trick me somehow?"

"It's not like there's a self destruct button," Fiona muttered, as she positioned herself in front of the controls.

Santa called out instructions to her and Fiona followed. She pressed a blinking red button, flicked three silver switches, and pulled a large lever. Once she was done the machine began whirling, flashing and making loud noises.

Terrance clapped happily at the progress then looked to Fiona. "Excellent work, my dear. Now it's time to choose," he said, pulling her close again. "Are you going to join me or not?"

Fiona looked into his soulless green eyes, her earlier fear returning. The boogie was easy enough to handle one on one but, when she knew he was sure to destroy her friends if she didn't agree, it was hard to be so in control. She looked away from him and her eyes automatically locked with Bernard's. If she gave in to Terrance it would hurt him more than any other pain. Fiona looked back at the boogie man whose gaze rested where her's had. When she looked at him, his attention snapped back to her. He looked slightly taken aback by the new confidence in her eyes. "I'll never join you!" she spat, pulling away from him in a flurry of green fabric and crimson hair.

Terrance smiled despite her words. "Bad choice." He pulled her back toward the others again. His eyes were eerily fixed on Bernard and the elf took a step back as he approached despite the invisible shield between them. "Change of plans boys," Terrance said, dragging Fiona in front of him. He pulled her arm behind her back and grasped her wrist firmly. "I don't want the Claus anymore. I want him." He said, indicating Bernard.

Fiona's eyes went wide and she tried to squirm from his grip to no avail. "Why?"

"Because, dearest," he whispered into her ear. "You love him! There's more power in that especially coupled with the Christmas magic. This is the price you have to pay for vexing me."

Fiona tried not to let her lip tremble. Bernard looked as though he was weighing his options but she knew he had made his choice the second Terrance had been posed the idea. She shook her head, eyes wide and pleading with him not to do what he was about to, but his face told her he'd already decided. Bernard said exactly what she didn't want to hear, "All right, Terrance. I'll take her place."

Terrance's glee was tangible. He let go of Fiona's arm and magically pushed her away from him. At the same time, Bernard was pulled the opposite direction. They met for a second at the barrier that had separated them and Fiona desperately tried to reach out for him. Before she could, they were ripped apart and Fiona hit the cold ground hard. Jack tried to help her up, but Fiona was already on her feet running back toward Bernard. She hit the barrier hard and slammed her fists against it.

Terrance was talking to Bernard but his voice was too low to be heard. From the look on the elf's face, the boogie man was hitting all the wrong buttons. Fiona watched, helplessly, as the two squared off. In the corner of her eye she spied Jack attempting to cut through the magic shield. He had frozen a good section of it and with the proper force he might be able to break through. Fiona's attention went back to Bernard and she watched in horror as Terrance grabbed him by the neck and started draining him of his magic. After a moment the elf fell limply to the floor and the boogie man stood over him triumphantly. Fiona slammed her fists harder against the wall trying desperately to get to the other side. All of a sudden, the barrier shattered sending pieces of magic falling across the room.

Terrance looked shocked, but his expression sobered as he saw the spring sprite rushing toward him. He waved a hand throwing her backwards, but Fiona shot a vine from her hands latching herself on to a nearby table leg. She swung herself around and despite her dress delivered a flying kick to the boogie man. He slammed into the wall but before he could move, a blue faced Jack let out an icy blast trying to freezing him. Fiona turned around to see Santa coming toward her. "Watch Bernard," she told him. Santa nodded and Fiona hurried over to help Jack.

Jack was the most in need of help since Terrance was melting the ice as quickly as the winter sprite could create it. While Jack was distracted, Terrance butted him in the head dazing him. He broke free of the rest of the ice and sent a shot of power toward Jack. Before it could hit him, Fiona stepped in the way holding up her hands and absorbing the power. The same shock from earlier filled Terrance's face and he shot at her several more times with the same response. Fiona calmly walked toward him, holding up her hands and combating all of his attacks. Terrance's back hit the wall again and, for the first time since he had started terrorizing them, Fiona saw fear in his eyes. A few inches away from him, she stopped and placed her hand on the wall next to his head. "Don't. Mess. With. My. Friends," Fiona said angrily, as vines slowly snaked up Terrance's legs holding him in place. They engulfed his torso and held his arms fast so he couldn't reach out to manipulate her. He was soon covered up to his shoulders. Only his face was free and it looked terrified.

Fiona held the light stone in her other hand having magically retrieved it during the fighting and smiled wickedly. "You're lucky I'm letting you breathe!" With that, she plunged the stone into Terrance's chest again. Like the last time, he let out a terrible blood curdling scream and bright, white light emanated from the point of impact. Fiona covered her eyes from the blinding display. She looked up in time to see the stone fall to the ground; the boogie man imprisoned in it once more. She picked it up and regarded it coldly.

Fiona walked over to Jack and helped him to his feet carefully dusting off his blue coat. Jack waved her off and told her to go check on Bernard. Biting her lower lip, Fiona walked over to the fallen elf. Santa stood over him with his back toward her. "Is he going to be okay?" she asked tentatively, glad her voice didn't waver.

Santa turned around his eyebrows knit in concern. "He should be. I'm going to go get Dr. Histmas."

Fiona nodded as Santa took off and she knelt down beside Bernard. The elf looked worse for wear. He had completely lost his sparkle and his skin was deathly pale. Fiona brushed a few loose dark curls from his face feeling how cold he was. She moved closer to him once again feeling helpless. "Bernard, it's me," She tried, though she felt silly talking to him when she knew he was unconscious. At the same time, it made her feel better to get the words out. "B, you have to be okay. I mean, we, we're finally an us." Fiona chocked on the words allowing herself to cry. "I can't lose you, Bernard, I just finally found you."

She looked away from him, trying to collect emotions and not allow herself to be a blubbering mess. The confidence she had created to defeat Terrance had disappeared as soon as the idea of losing Bernard had hit her.

"Fiona?" she heard a tired voice say. The sprite's eyes flew back to the elf lying on the ground next to her. He was looking up at her with half-lidded eyes and a weak smile. "Did we get him?"

Fiona laughed while she sniffed back tears. "We did," she said, before leaning down and kissing him hard. He flinched involuntarily from the pain from his attack and she pulled away quickly. "I'm sorry." She said caressing his cheek with her hand.

"Don't be," he said leaning into her touch. His skin was much warmer and his color was returning. Bernard smirked a little. "I like the dress."

"Well at least one good thing came out of this mess," Fiona rolled her eyes. The dress was still sparkly, but the fight had left tears and scorch marks on it. Fiona looked over in time to see Santa arrive with Dr. Histmas and the rest of the elfirmary staff ready to treat those the Boogie man had terrorized.

Histmas determined that the damage the boogie had done to Bernard was only to his magic and that he seemed to be recovering well. All the same it was decided that he would be taken to the elfirmary to get checked out. The hospital elves took Bernard and Curtis, who had also woken up, from the room and Fiona was left alone with only the whirling of the Pantogram for company. She walked over to the machine and pressed the stop button on the panel quieting it immediately.

"What are you still doing in here?" she heard Scott ask.

Fiona turned shaking her head. "Nothing, just thinking."

"Well, I want you to go to the elfirmary and get checked out too. I don't like that limp you're trying to hide."

"I thought that all knowing Santa thing only worked on human children." Fiona smiled.

Scott chuckled as Fiona walked over to him. She had managed to twist her ankle in the melee and now that she thought about it, it did actually hurt. Scott put an arm around her to help her balance herself and led her from the room. "I'm glad you and Bernard are okay, Fiona. And thank you for saving the Pole."

"I'd like to say it was no problem," she said, riley, "But you're welcome."

"Good thing we're ahead of schedule for the big day. Tomorrow's going to be a mess with so many people in various states of being boogied."

Fiona couldn't help but laugh as they reached the elfirmary. "You realize Bernard's going to be the worst right… they're going to put him on bed rest or something and he's going to drive himself insane."

Santa rolled his eyes deciding it was better not to think about the next day. No matter how bad it got though, it would still be better than the events of today.


	18. Endings & Beginnings

* * *

_We Go Together Like the Winter and a Sweater_  
 _And She Makes Me Feel,_  
 _She Makes Me Feel Alive Inside_  
 _And When I Look Into Her Eyes_  
 _I See the Blue and Green Like Christmas Lights_  
 _Like Christmas Lights, Oh What a Sight._  
 _Ho Ho Hopefully_  
 _This Holiday Will Make Us Believe That_  
 _We're Exactly Where We're Supposed to Be_  
 _And We're Ho Ho Hoping That We All Come Back_  
 _And as a Matter of Fact I Know We're Exactly Where We're Supposed to Be_  
 _Together by This Christmas Tree_   
  
Ho Ho Hopefully~ The Maine

* * *

 

As predicted, Christmas Eve arrived the next day with all its usual fanfare and last minute panic. Despite the ordeal of the previous night, the factory was pretty much business as usual. All the elves were in a remarkably good mood given what had happened and, with the boogie threat under control, were completely focused on the last remaining Christmas prep at hand. The slack that had accumulated was quickly picked up, thanks to the majority of the departments being ahead of schedule, and the factory was on track to a timely finish to the season.

Fiona walked down the main hallway of the factory, humming nothing in particular, and ignoring the limp in her step. She had just finished talking with Curtis and was given the good news on the status of the work left. Soon, the sprite reached her destination and couldn't help but laugh at what she saw. Posted in front of the door she had intended to walk through was a surly looking elf in a blue and white uniform. When he saw Fiona he smiled and unfolded his arms. "So, Santa assigned you to watch so the patient wouldn't try to escape, eh, Mitch?" She asked

Mitch, the elficer in question, shrugged. "Apparently, Big Red got worried that's what he'd do."

"Can I go in and see him? I mean, am I on the authorized guest list?" she said, with a hint of sarcasm. "I promise I won't try to bust him out. I didn't bring a cake with a file in it or anything like that"

"Besides the big guy, you're the only other name on my list." Mitch said, opening the door and letting Fiona into the head elf's bedroom.

Fiona thanked him and closed the door behind her. Before she turned around she heard Bernard's voice but he wasn't addressing her. "I don't care what he said Curtis, he needs to be done."

Fiona rolled her eyes as he continued ranting. She calmly made her across the room eyes darting about, only resting momentarily on the various gadgets and gizmos that inhabited the space. The room screamed Bernard from the bold but natural color scheme, to the carefully arranged curios, to the blueprints in various stages tacked on the walls. Bored with the scenery, Fiona turned her gaze toward Bernard who was still jabbering away to Curtis.

Bernard saw her coming, his eyes getting big for a moment with a flash of sudden doom, but he continued ranting into the walkie talkie headset he had connected to his number two elf. He was sitting up in his bed with papers strewn across him like an extra layer of blanket. Fiona walked closer, her arms folded behind her back and her face blank. When she reached the side of his bed she sat down next to him.

Bernard suddenly shrunk under the weight of the glare she bestowed upon him. "Hold on a second Curtis," he squeaked out. Bernard cleared his throat and lamely said, "This isn't what it looks like."

Fiona's eyebrow quirked as she continued to glare at him. "Give me that," she calmly said, holding out her hand to him.

The elf's eyes flicked back and forth between her face and her hand several times before he slowly reached for his ear earpiece. He took it off, careful to not make any sudden movements, and placed the walkie in her outstretched hand. Fiona curled her fingers around the device as if to simply crush it in a vice grip. Instead, she brought it up to her own pointed ear, attached it soundly and spoke into the mouth piece. "Curtis, it's Fi."

The elf on the other line gulped audibly. "Hi, Fiona…"

"Curtis, what did I tell you about bugging Bernard?" she cut him off. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Bernard looking at her worriedly.

"But I didn't do it, Fi!" Curtis spouted. "You told me not to bug him and I wasn't going to and then he got a radio somehow and told me he wanted to know what was going on and I couldn't stop him."

Fiona let him prattle on a few more seconds about how he wasn't at fault before she decided to stop him. "That's what I figured," she sighed, rubbing at her left temple and trying not to roll her eyes. Not being able to hear the other side of the conversation, Bernard simply smiled nervously and waited in anticipation. "Don't worry about it Curtis," Fiona continued, "I'm taking over the airwaves for a bit so just relax and only call me if there's an emergency."

When she had finished she looked at Bernard with her arms crossed over her chest. "So what's your side of this?"

"I didn't, I tried to, and he…" he faltered, knowing he was trapped.

"You just what?" she chided. "You can only give orders, can't follow them? Histmas told you to relax!"

He looked down despondently at his hands, fiddling with them like a child being scolded. "I know that, Fi, it's just," he looked up at her with sad brown eyes, "It's Christmas Eve."

He didn't have to explain it further than that. After working tirelessly for almost twelve straight months, it was terribly twisted for him not to get to participate in the big day. It would be like if Cupid missed Valentine's Day or the Easter Bunny missed Easter. Though Bernard wasn't the legendary figure behind the holiday he was one of its most integral parts. Between this and all the other boogie escapades it was as if the fates had conspired not to let him see the fruits of his labors this year. With a sympathetic nod, Fiona moved over next to him, putting her arm around him and letting him rest his head on her chest. She stroked his arm reassuringly and said, "I know, B. I'm sorry."

Nothing else was said and they sat quietly for a while, resigned to their individual thoughts. Eventually, Bernard asked Fiona about the current state of the factory. She teased him figuring he'd already gotten all the information from Curtis but then told him what little she knew. Everyone was recovering well. The wrapping elves that had been misplaced during the fight had been found in one of the supply closets, teleported by the boogie. They were all shaken but no worse for wear. Angelica had recovered almost as soon as Terrance had been dispensed with thanks to the proximity of the holiday and its magic. She had taken off soon after, having holiday cheer to spread in preparation for Christmas Eve and day. The spirit had promised to be back in time for the big holiday feast the next day.

As Fiona began to tell him about the most recent productivity projections, the device in her ear called out to her. She answered it calmly but Bernard still reacted with worry, lifting his head and staring at her imploringly. The whole thing might have been cute if she wasn't sure he was going to have a heart attack from stressing himself out. Luckily, the question had been a simple one about where the excess coral colored ribbon was and there was soon radio silence again. Fiona looked down at Bernard, waiting for him to start another upset rant about not being able to do anything but it didn't come. She continued to stare at the top of his head until he finally broke. "Can I just run a few numbers?"

Fiona rolled her eyes pulling away from him. "What is it with you and numbers?" she muttered, standing up from the bed and handing him back his earpiece. "Go ahead. Stress yourself out. See if I care!" She threw her arms up in the air in mock disgust.

He smiled despite her rant. "Thanks Fi."

"Just know this, Mr. Head Elf," she said, a wicked grin playing across her features. "If you insist on not listening to me, then you will be punished."

Bernard looked at her questioningly. "How so?"

Fiona's Cheshire smile remained in tact as she leaned close to him, fixing her turquoise eyes on his face and making him wary for even asking. "If you're not going to relax than I'm not going to kiss you anymore."

"Seriously?" he asked. Bernard began to wonder if he was in fact dating a 14 yr old girl rather than a centuries old spirit of spring. She nodded her head, gaze not wavering and face showing just how proud she was of her idea. "I'll believe it when I see it," he said, attempting to close the distance between them.

Fiona moved away with a triumphant laugh letting him fall forward. "Believe it, B. All this love stuff and it's magic is how you recovered so quickly but you won't listen to me. So, calm down and I'm all yours, otherwise… well it'll be a cold, cold Christmas for you won't it." Bernard frowned, as she ran a far to gentle hand across his cheek. "I have to help Carol with the party. I'll see you later," She said and flitted out of the room knowing that while her plan wouldn't stop him entirely it might at least slow him down a bit. That alone might stop him from giving himself an aneurism and that was enough for her.

*~*~*~*

"Fi, I know you're tired," Carol said, walking over to Fiona. The sprite in question was currently perched atop a medium sized ladder leaning on the top wrung and staring at a blank wall. Fiona blinked herself back into the present and looked down at the blonde a few feet below her as she continued speaking, "You really don't have to worry about doing that."

Fiona shook her head. She and Carol had been working for the last hour to ready the ballroom for the annual Christmas Eve party. The room was large and between decorating and getting all the refreshments and snacks ready it had become an arduous process despite the use of magic. Righting herself on the ladder, Fiona traced a large circle onto the wall in front of her. As it was completed, green leaves formed a large wreath along the trail that had been traced. Fiona pointed to a few choice spots and red flowers sprung to life at her touch. Happy with her work, she dusted her hands off and descended the ladder. "Now I'm done," She told Carol with a triumphant smile. "What else is left?"

Carol grabbed a long list from the buffet table next to her and quickly perused it. "Well, that's it for the decorations. I think the last thing is just helping Judy bring over the other desserts"

"I can do that."

"Are you sure?"

"It's no problem, Carol. Plus, you need to go spend some time with your husband before he leaves for the night. It is your anniversary after all." Carol smiled sheepishly and thanked the sprite before leaving. Fiona folded up and moved the ladder back against the wall, did a final check of the room then headed for the kitchen. When she made her last turn before reaching the kitchen, she was surprised to see Jack walking toward her.

"Hey," she said simply. "I thought…"

"You thought I left again, I know," he finished, with a grin. "I did actually, but I realized I need to talk to you."

"Why for?"

It hardly ever happened and she had only witnessed it twice before, but Fiona knew Jack was at a loss for words. He surprised her, taking her hands in his own. They were cold, but not unpleasant. "Fiona, you have to know that I didn't set that boogie on you. I wasn't trying to hurt you or the elf or even trying to take over Christmas for once."

Fiona shook her head. "I didn't think that for a second. If I recall, I told Terrance just that when he insinuated you did."

"I know but I…"

"Jack, I know you well enough to know you wouldn't have done something like that. You're a frozen jerk but you're not that evil," she teased then placed a hand on his chin, tilting his head so his blue eyes finally met hers. "Aside from that, if you had been at fault, you wouldn't have tried to help save us."

Jack finally smiled giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Thank you for understanding."

"You're welcome," Fiona said, hugging the nymph. "Now hurry up and go bring winter to the world. A lot of people aren't going to be happy if they don't have a white Christmas."

Jack nodded and turned around as if to leave. "Oh but Fi," he called over his shoulder making the sprite pause. "Just because I was on relatively good behavior this year doesn't mean I'm not going to try even harder to get myself a holiday next year." He smiled over his shoulder at her with a signature wink and then disappeared.

*~*~*~*

The day continued uneventfully which was a relief to all those involved. Soon it was time for Santa to take his traditional flight. The elves all gathered in the town square where the sleigh sat ready to go. Santa gave a rousing speech, thanking everyone for their efforts in both bringing Christmas to the world and saving the factory. He kissed Carol promising not to be home too late and then he, Charlie and his eight reindeer took off into the sky to thunderous cheers.

As everyone continued mulling about, Carol grabbed Fiona and Judy and the three hurried to the ballroom. Fiona waited outside while the kitchen elf and Mrs. Clause put the finishing touches on the décor. Leaning against the door, Fiona adjusted the straps of her emerald dress wondering if it and her red hair fit the Christmas party theme well enough. When she looked up she realized that almost every elf in the factory was standing in front of her waiting patiently.

Carol slid out of the ballroom with impeccable timing and quickly welcomed the elves reiterating what her husband had said earlier. She motioned to Fiona and they flung the doors open wide letting the elves into the end of season Christmas party.

The elves took to the festivities immediately, excited to get to celebrate their work. There was dancing, a live band, a few games and plenty of food for the small army. Fiona crept along the outskirts of the party, smiling to herself. Especially with everything else that had befallen them this year, everyone in attendance deserved this. It was a relief to see a happy, work free, stress free environment.

"Just the person I was looking for," Fiona heard a voice behind her say. She turned around to see Mother Nature.

"Hi, Nat," She greeted the legendary figure. "Merry Christmas."

"And the same to you. I believe you have something for me."

Fiona nodded and reached into the side of her dress pulling out the light stone. The woman looked at her questioningly. "I didn't have any pockets." She explained as Mother Nature took the stone from her with a smirk. "Can you do me a favor and get that out of here as soon as possible? Now would be preferable."

Mother Nature obliged, waving her hand and vanishing in a poof of her usual green and gold glitter. Within seconds she was back standing in front of Fiona. "It's taken care of."

"Good," Fiona said, continuing to meander along the perimeter of the room; Mother Nature followed her. "I don't think I can handle fighting him a third time."

Mother Nature put a hand on Fiona's shoulder stopping her in her track. "Fiona, I'm sorry you had to go through all this. If I had known it was going to go this way, I wouldn't have asked you to help in the first place."

Fiona shrugged her off, attempting a playful smile. "Hey, you didn't know. It's not like I thought you were trying to off me or anything." Mother Nature looked at her pointedly, not quite appreciating the humor. "Nat, it's not a big deal. We stopped him and we made it through Christmas. Everyone's all right and that's all we can ask for, right?"

Mother Nature sighed. "When did you start taking such a positive outlook on life?"

"No idea."

"It doesn't have something to do with a certain elf by any chance, does it?" Mother Nature said, nudging the spring sprite playfully.

Fiona looked away. "So you heard about that?"

"Fiona, I'm Mother Nature, I know everything!" the woman laughed. "Plus Cupid's been going on about it ever since the council meeting. He can't affect other Council members with his magic, but he can spot love from a mile away and he won't shut up about it!"

Fiona stifled a giggle. "I'm sorry you had to put up with that."

Mother Nature waved her off. "I'm just glad you're happy, Fiona.

"I most definitely am!"

"Well maybe you should tell him that," Mother Nature said, indicating someone behind Fiona.

The spring sprite spun around and smiled when she saw Bernard waiting behind her. It was rare to see him at the season end party as he and Curtis were the only elves still busy on Christmas Eve. They usually spent the night in the radar room keeping in contact with Santa to make sure nothing went wrong with his flight. Fiona excused herself from Mother Nature's company and hurried over to him. "What are you doing here?"

Bernard's eyebrow rose. "Just because I'm head elf I'm not allowed to join the party?"

"I didn't mean that," Fiona said, shaking her head furiously, her curled red hair bouncing. "It's just you hardly ever come by."

"I don't usually have a reason," He said, offering her his hand.

A smirk played across her face as she accepted the hand, "If I'd know all I had to do was date you to get you to ask me to dance than I would have done it forever ago."

She couldn't see his face but she knew Bernard was rolling his eyes as he led her to the dance floor just in time for the band to start the next number. It was a Christmas song, naturally, in three quarter time and the couples on the floor quickly fell into a simple but elegant waltz. Fiona laughed in pure delight as Bernard spun her in a tight circle before pulling her back close to him. Her hand rested on his shoulder, his on her waist, their other hands intertwined. Their eyes locked on each other, their feet not missing a beat. They had danced together before but something was different about this time; it was the first time their real feelings for each other were known. Fiona leaned closer, resting her head on his chest and kicking herself for how stupid she had been to put off being this close to him for so long.

The song began to end and they pulled inches apart looking back into each others eyes. Not caring who was watching and ignoring any kind of decorum or the "no affection" decree she had made earlier, Fiona threw her arms around Bernard's neck and kissed him passionately. They reluctantly broke apart and hurried off the floor so as not to cause a roadblock for the other dancers.

"I probably should go check on Curtis," Bernard grumbled, when they reached the doors of the ballroom. "I'm sure he's freaking out I've been gone this long."

"I figured you were going to say that," Fiona said, making a face to show her distain for his need to leave. "Thanks for the dance."

Bernard smiled. "No thanks needed. It's not like I want you dancing with anyone else. It's my job to fill up your dance card from now on."

"I really, really like that idea," Fiona said with a grin. "I'll come bug you guys once this all starts winding down."

Bernard nodded, took her hand and kissed it lightly before opening the door and making his exit. Fiona watched the doors swing shut and let out a small, content sigh. She turned around, still smiling, only to see Carol and Mother Nature watching her. "Seems the rumors weren't exaggerated all that much." Mother Nature playfully chided, as Fiona joined the women. "I definitely need the full story now." And with that Fiona began answering the head Legendary Figure's questions about her new beau.

*~*~*~*

Fiona stifled a yawn as she walked the deserted halls of the factory a few hours later. She covered her mouth with her free hand, the other busy holding the black heels she had, moments ago, mercifully freed her tired feet from. She still tried to ignore the limp in her step from the previous night's event.

Opening the door to the radar room, she blinked several times, trying not to let her brain overload from the lights and sounds coming from the various electronics. She shook her head and looked around spotting Curtis sitting in a large, plush green chair near the middle of the room. "Where's Bernard?" she asked, assuming he had gone on a cocoa run or something similar.

Curtis rolled his eyes and pointed across the circle of furniture around him at a sofa. There was the head elf, curled up with a colorful afghan blanket and sleeping soundly. "I think the exhaustion finally won out," Curtis commented, as Fiona walked to the couch and sat down next to Bernard's head. "We were just talking about some improvements for next year and he konked out."

"You're telling me, I tried all day to get him to sleep and you talk to him for five minutes and he finally gets bored enough he listens," Fiona teased.

Curtis started to retort, but the radio next to him buzzed to life with Santa's voice. As he attended to it, the situation dubbed "laughing all the way", Fiona looked down at Bernard. She lightly brushed his dark curls from his face causing him to stir ever so slightly. He didn't actually wake up, but readjusted himself so his head was in her lap.  _This is going to be another long night_  Fiona thought, leaning back against the couch and trying not to let sleep overcome her as well.

*~*~*~*

The night wore on, slowly but surely. After a while Carol joined Curtis, Fiona and the unconscious Bernard making the usual Christmas Eve group complete. The three made small talk for a while their topics ranging from how the party had ended to a more detailed account of the previous day's boogie disaster to factory productivity. When a fairly long lull hit the conversation Curtis turned to Fiona. "Can I ask you something, Fi?"

"Shoot."

"What are you guys going to do when spring comes?" Fiona's face fell and Curtis quickly back peddled. "I'm sorry! I've just been curious. I didn't mean to upset you!"

Fiona shook her head. "No, it's all right," she tried to assure him. "We just…we haven't really talked about it much. Postponing the inevitable I guess. I think for now, the plan is I'll stay here as long as possible, leave in March for spring and come back around September."

"And I'm sure Bernard can visit you during spring," Carol added. "It's not like it gets crazy busy around her until August at the earliest."

"Right," Fiona said, absentmindedly playing with the sleeve of Bernard's shirt. "It won't be too bad. We'll just play it by ear." Saying it out loud made it actually sound bearable and she was okay with that.

"Well good!" Curtis proclaimed, wiping his brow in an overdramatic fashion. "That plan sounds like a good one to me and it'll keep Bernard happy. And if he's happy, than everyone around here is happy. Plus, he won't be randomly and irrationally mad at me for no reason."

"Well, I'm glad our plans are also beneficial to you, Curtis." Fiona said, with a smirk.

*~*~*~*

Bernard didn't rejoin the waking world until the night shift was almost over. The others were deep in a third round of Go Fish when he finally began stirring. When he did come to, they had to quickly calm him down; assuring him he hadn't missed anything of great importance.

With yet another premature heart attack averted, everything continued in its normal uneventful manner. They burned through several card games from canasta to gin and drank enough cocoa to give a mortal diabetes.

Around six am, Scott's voice crackled through the radio with a call of "To all a goodnight". The signal meant he was coming in for a landing and the late night vigil could come to an end. Carol left the room first, excited to see her husband after his big night. Bernard told Curtis he would catch up with him and the number two elf left as well. Once he was gone, Bernard helped Fiona up to her feet. She yawned, covering her face with her hands. "When did you sleep last?" Bernard asked, his concerned tendencies always at the forefront.

Fiona shook her head. "I figured since you were getting all the sleep around here, I'd try a roll reversal."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Cause you're not going to like the answer. I slept for about three hours after the boogie thing and I haven't slept since then."

"You weren't kidding! Go get some sleep," Bernard ordered.

"Yes, sir," she said, giving him a mock salute.

"Nice to know sleep deprivation doesn't affect your sense of humor, Fi." He said, before kissing her on the cheek. "If I'm done here quick, I'll stop by."

*~*~*~*

Fiona hadn't found herself more excited by the idea of her house in a very long time. It and the gateway to the sleeping world it supplied were far too exciting an idea to her tired mind and body. She changed out of her party dress and got ready for bed before practically diving into the blanketed oasis. As she began to pull the covers over herself, she nearly jumped out of her skin as Bernard appeared out of thin air a few feet away from her. He stumbled and fell onto the bed. "Bernard," the sprite cried out, scrabbling over to him, "What are you doing?"

He mumbled something unintelligible into the comforter that Fiona managed to decipher after a bit of thinking. "I don't care if you were trying to get here before I fell asleep. Your magic's not 100% yet!"

Shakily getting up on his own accord, Bernard sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her guiltily. "Does that mean you don't want your Christmas present?" he asked, pulling a small box from behind his back and placing it in front of her.

Fiona rolled her eyes. "I didn't say that," she said, grabbing a small bag from off her nightstand and handing it to the elf.

It had been a tradition for as long as she'd been coming to the Pole for Bernard and Fiona to exchange gifts on Christmas morning. It always happened after "Santa Watch" had ended and it never mattered how tired either of them were; tradition was tradition. This year it was Bernard's turn to go first. He opened the bag, pulling out various colored tissue paper and the actual gift inside. It was a long scarf of deep burgundy and gold and matched his favorite shirt perfectly. "You made this?" he asked.

Fiona nodded. "I knew you needed a new one after you lost the other one."  
  
"Thank you," Bernard said, tossing the scarf around his neck.

"My pleasure," Fiona said, taking the box he had placed in front of her and starting to unwrap the purple and blue paper. Inside was a small black jewelry box. Fiona eyed him suspiciously as she opened the box and extracted its contents. In her hands she held a necklace with a silver chain. Hanging from the middle of it was a silver charm in the shape of a rose. The petals were inlaid with ruby colored stones and the leaves with green. "It's gorgeous, B," She said with a smile

Bernard also grinned before standing up, stretching his arms over his head and glancing at the door.

"Thank you," Fiona said replacing the necklace in the box and then turning back to him, "But where do you think you're going?"

"I was just…" he sputtered to no avail.

"No, you're staying here tonight." She watched as his eyebrow rose and tried not to let on how much she loved that perplexed expression. "Look, it's late, you barely got over here as it was. I don't want you walking home and passing out in the snow and then never being found again.  _And_  I don't want you teleporting again and something going wrong and your legs ending up detached from your body or something because I'm sorry, I'm superficial and I just don't think I can deal with half a boyfriend."

"All right, all right, you convinced me," he laughed, sitting back down in the empty space on the bed.

Fiona, smiled, pleased with herself as Bernard lay down next to her. She moved closer to him, resting her head on his chest. "Plus, it's our first Christmas  _together_  and I'll be darned if I'm spending it alone."

He chuckled, kissing the top of her head. "Merry Christmas, Fi."

"Merry Christmas, Bernard," She sleepily replied, snuggling closer to his chest and quickly falling asleep. Bernard stayed awake a while longer. He held Fiona close, listening to her heart beat, her slow breathing and the steady ticking of an unseen clock.

The seasons would change soon and with spring would come new uncertainty for the two of them. He didn't see it mattering that much. Even if they weren't together physically they were finally together on a far deeper level and that was enough. With that thought calming his mind, Bernard pulled Fiona closer ready to sleep and ready for whatever might come next.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there folks! Welcome to my old as dirt SC fic that I'm editing and uploading to this new as dirt site that this grandma barely knows how to use. I finished this fic like 6 yrs ago but I've quietly lurked since then watching the fandom come and go every season. So this year, I finally decided it was time to continue my silly little fic. Before I can get to that I feel like I need to re-up the original. I've re-written a little of it and tried to fix the silly errors in it (though there still probably will be some cause I'm lazy AF). So please enjoy my silly little Christmas tale of elves and sprites and spring and winter. So please enjoy! Leave me a review if you feel so kind. I'll try to have this all up by X-mas or a little after and start the new stuff a little bit after that.  
> Thanks!!


End file.
